Data Theft – T-Mobile 1st Conviction

A former T-Mobile employee has admitted his role in the illegal sale of massive volumes of customer data to marketers.

David Turley, of Birmingham, 39, pleaded guilty to 18 charges under section 55 of the Data Protection Act at Chester Crown Court Un July 2010. A second former T-Mobile employee, Darren Hames, of Staffordshire, 38, will enter his pleas in relation to his alleged role in the theft on 23 November 2010

The illegal sale of millions of subscriber records was revealed by the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham last November, as part of a campaign for tougher sentences for data thieves.

The T-Mobile data was used to cold call and poach subscribers who were coming to the end of their contracts.

The Register

Data Theft – T Mobile (Nov 2009)

Personal details of thousands of mobile phone customers have been stolen and sold to rival firms in the biggest data breach of its kind, the government’s privacy watchdog said today.

An employee of phone operator T-Mobile sold the customer records, including details of when contracts expired. The millions of items of information were sold on for “substantial sums”, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said. Rival networks and mobile phone retailers then tried to lure away T-Mobile customers by “cold calling”.

Guardian

BBC

Data Theft – T-Mobile 2nd Conviction

Darren Hames aged 38, from Staffordshire, who used to work for T-Mobile UK pleaded guilty at Warrington Crown Court to having sold confidential customer information from the telecom operator to third parties.

Darren Hames was found guilty under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act. Sentancing will not occur until the New Year (2011). The first man convicted in relation to this incident was David Turley, of Birmingham, 39,

The ICO statement on Hames