Council worker spared prison after four-day data-snooping spree

SECURITY

Herefordshire employee handed suspended sentence for breach of Computer Misuse Act

A council worker who "abused" his position to unlawfully access "highly sensitive" personal records of family members and other people known to him has received a suspended sentence after admitting to violating the Computer Misuse Act (CMA).

Geoffrey Smith, 31, from Ledbury, was a new Herefordshire Council employee working in the Children and Young People directorate.

Over a four-day period, he accessed roughly 490 records and downloaded 94 documents relating to family members and "families known to him." This included data on adults and children, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.

The data accessed included "highly sensitive material" such as medical records, social worker reports, and child and family assessments, the watchdog said.

Smith pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 1 of the CMA 1990 relating to "unlawful accessing of personal data held on computers." He was sentenced at Worcester Magistrates' Court on July 17 to two months' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. 

Smith was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £2,000 in costs plus a £154 victim surcharge.

Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: "Smith abused his position as an employee and used his access to Herefordshire Council's systems to view the personal information of people known to him, without any legitimate reason to do so.

"The sensitive nature of the records held within a Children and Young People directorate, and Smith's systematic misuse of that information, makes this particularly serious. People have a right to expect that their personal information is kept safe, and that those with access to it will only use it for the purposes for which it was intended."

Tough words from the ICO, whose former information commissioner resigned after admitting that his conduct had fallen below the standards expected of public officials. ®