Bank employee fined for viewing the account of her partner’s ex-wife
A former employee of Barclays Bank has been fined £500 after pleading guilty to unlawfully viewing bank account details belonging to her partner’s ex-wife.
Lara Davies pleaded guilt to a total of 11 offences under the Data Protection Act. In addition to the fine, she was also ordered to pay £1,410.80 in prosecution costs, plus a £15 victim surcharge
The breach came to light during negotiations over a divorce settlement between Ms Davies’ partner and his former wife. The latter became suspicious when details of transactions on internet auction site eBay were raised during a meeting.
The wife informed Barclays and when they launched an investigation, Ms Davies left her job.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said:
“High street bank staff have access to financial information on a day-to-day basis, and are expected to treat that privilege with professionalism…The only surprise here is that – in an age where our personal information is being stored and accessed by more organisations than ever – the penalties for abusing the system are so inadequate.”
Photo by Colin via Wikipedia under a Creative Commons licence
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