Employee fined by ICO for taking client records with him to rival firm

Mark Lloyd was fined £300 and ordered to pay £435 in other costs for breaking the law

A former waste disposal employee who left his job, taking information about previous clients with him, has been prosecuted and fined by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Mark Lloyd was working at Acorn Waste Management in Shropshire when he emailed the details of 957 clients to his personal email address as he was leaving to start a new role at a rival company.

The documents contained personal information including the contact details and purchase history of customers and commercially sensitive information.

Lloyd appeared at Telford Magistrates Court last week and pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining data, and was prosecuted under section 55 of the Data Protection Act.

He was fined £300 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30 and £405.98 in costs.

Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO, said that taking client records that contain personal information to a new job without permission is a criminal offence.

"Employees need to be aware that documents containing personal data they have produced or worked on belong to their employer and are not theirs to take with them when they leave. Don't risk a day in court by being ignorant of the law," he said.

Currently, the offence is punishable by way of fine only in a magistrates court or a crown court.

The ICO said it continues to call for more effective deterrent sentences, including the threat of prison, to be available to the courts to the stop the unlawful use of personal information.