A leaked call of leaders of the
British Freedom Party (
BFP) discussed how they would steal people’s details from the
English Defence League (
EDL)’s database months before the
EDL and the
BFP announced their alliance.
Simon Bennett, an ex-member of the
British National Party (
BFP) who is now a senior
BFP figure behind the scenes (also a key webmaster) – told former
BNP legal officer Lee Barnes, former
BNP South West organiser Peter Mullins and Gary Marshall, a one-time
BNP election candidate, that the
EDL had,
Quote: ‘100,000 people in their database which I’m uploading… tonight’.
When Bennett bragged about his access to the
EDL data, Barnes advised him to,
Quote: ‘Keep hold of it.’
Of course, these key figures want their political group to grow. This does show however, that members of the
EDL and
BFP can expect their details being
mismanaged and
misused. Guess there’s no freedom here then...
Further reading:
- Leaked call reveals ex-BNP cabal had EDL in its sights for months
Neither the BFP nor the EDL are registered as data controllers, according to the Information Commissioner's website (http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers.aspx). Any organisation which processes personal data should be registered under the Data Protection Act and failure to do so is a criminal offence. Handing over membership data to other organisations is also an offence. I reported the failure to register to the Information Commissioner's Office in July but have not heard back. If anyone else wants to complain, there is a form to fill in at http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/data_protection.aspx - any evidence that membership data had been handed over would really add weight to the complaint.
ReplyDeleteI got a letter today from the Information Commissioner's Office confirming that neither the English Defence League nor British Freedom are registered to hold (process) personal data. The case is being passed to the ICO "non notification department" for further action... I think that they'll be sent a letter giving them a set time to register - if not they'll be taken to court and fined. I'm less surprised about the EDL, although their member data has been previously hacked so they should know better (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12041234). As for British Freedom - I don't think much of a political party which is fielding a candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner yet doesn't know the law.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing your findings. We will pass them on to relevant officials.
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