This is the full text of the statement by Mick Gorrill, Assistant Information Commissioner, yesterday:
“People care about their personal privacy and have a right to expect that their personal details remain confidential. Who they are, where they live, who their friends and family are, how they run their lives: these are all private matters. Individuals may choose to divulge such information to others, but information about them held confidentially should not be available to anyone prepared to pay the right price.
“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) exposed the widespread media involvement in illegally obtaining personal information in its reports What Price Privacy? and What Price Privacy Now? The ICO named some of the UK’s newspapers and magazines which bought people’s personal information in search of a story.
“Following a court order in 2008 we made available a copy of some information, from our investigation into the buying and selling of personal information, to lawyers acting on behalf of Gordon Taylor. This included material that showed that 31 journalists working for The News of the World and The Sun had acquired people’s personal information through blagging.”
The links below take you to two reports, What Price Privacy? and What Price Privacy Now? which set out more information.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/corporate/research_and_reports/what_price_privacy_low_resolution.pdf
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/corporate/research_and_reports/ico-wppnow-0602.pdf