People Need To Take Control Of How Much Data Is Stored On Them
People need to take control of how much information about them is being stored by organisations, says the UK’s data protection watchdog.
Laws to protect privacy are not being used enough, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says.
It is calling on people to “stand up” and use the rights available to them under the Data Protection Act.
Visitors to the ICO’s website can now use a Personal Information Healthcheck to help them protect their privacy.
‘No choice’
The ICO says that, while people are becoming more aware of the dangers of allowing their information to fall into the wrong hands, many are not using the legal rights available to protect their privacy.
A survey of 2,020 UK adults conducted for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in August found 95% of people believed their personal information was valuable and more than 70% claimed to routinely shred personal documents.
But another survey found that 44% had never considered contacting an organisation to find out what information it held about them – a legal right available to them under the Act.
ICO deputy commissioner David Smith said: “Sometimes people have no choice but to provide personal details to organisations.
“Yet the more information we provide, the greater the risk that it will become out of date, be held for too long, or fall into the wrong hands.
“It is time for more people to stand up and use the rights they have under the Data Protection Act.”
Health check
The online ICO Personal Information Healthcheck consists of a multiple choice quiz which asks where visitors store their information, and who they give it out to.
The aim is to pinpoint how vulnerable people might be to a breach of their privacy – and to suggest ways of controlling access to personal information.
It advises that customers who ask for a refund should think carefully before handing over personal information.
“If the shop assistant can’t tell you why your personal details are needed, then don’t give them out,” says the ICO.
Similarly, says the ICO, people should always ask if their personal details might be passed to a third party, or used for marketing purposes.
“If you don’t want a company to pass on your details, always remember to opt out – or you may have to write to the company to ask for details to be removed from its database.”
In the last resort the ICO advises customers to seek out another company if they cannot guarantee the unwanted use of information.
The launch of the ICO’s Healthcheck comes after several high-profile losses of sensitive data by government and private organisations.
“These losses demonstrate the risks if too much personal information is kept,” says the ICO.
Mortgage Lending Continued To Fall During August
The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed Mortgage lending continued its downward spiral in August
The total value of new lending was £21.8bn, down by 12% from July and 36% lower than in August last year.
The CML said it was the lowest monthly figure since April 2005 and the lowest August figure since 2002.
It blamed the continued fall in mortgage lending on “exceptionally low housing market turnover.”
The CML’s director general, Michael Coogan, warned that lending would remain low in the months ahead.
“These figures reflect the heightened uncertainty for both lenders and consumers in the mortgage market at present,” he said.
“Lenders are uncertain about future sources of funding and the cost of funding, while consumers are unsure about how much further and for how long house prices will continue to decline.”
Gloomy prospects
There seems little doubt that sales and prices will fall further in the next few months.
Sales are already down by a half over the past year, while mortgages approved but not yet lent have fallen by 71% on the levels of a year ago.
This suggests that actual sales may soon drop even more.
Andrew Montlake, of mortgage brokers Cobalt Capital, said the latest CML figures were grim, but not surprising.
“They are a reflection of the near standstill the property market now finds itself in,” he said.
“In some areas, you could count the number of property transactions in August on one hand.
“And although August is always a fairly quiet month, it could be a few months before things start to pick up given the events of the past few days,” he added.
All surveys of house prices now suggest that on average they are lower than they were a year ago, with the most widely followed surveys published by the Nationwide and Halifax both showing a drop in prices of 11% during the past 12 months.
The latest crises in the financial markets, and the sudden takeover of the Halifax bank – the UK’s biggest mortgage lender – may make more people less confident about borrowing, which could extend the current sharp downturn in the property market.
Millions Due A £60 Tax Rebate This September
A U-turn by the chancellor on plans to scrap the lowest 10 pence tax band will leave 22 million of us £60 better of this September after receiving pressure from backbench MPs to ease its impact.
The new measures will mean basic rate taxpayers see a tax saving of £120. They will have £60 less taken from their September pay packets and will then see their net pay rise by £10 per month for the rest of this tax year.
How the changes affect your pay and tax
If you pay tax at the basic rate of 20 per cent the changes take effect from the first pay day on or after 7 September and equate to a tax saving of approximately £120 over the course of the tax year. If your September pay day is on or after 7 September, you will pay up to £60 less tax that month. If you’re paid monthly and your September pay day was before 7 September, you will pay up to £70 less tax in October. How much your tax reduces will depend on how much you’ve paid already – and in some cases you might get a repayment as part of your pay.
After this if you’re paid monthly you will pay up to £10 a month less tax and if you’re paid weekly you will pay up to £2.30 less tax. (The actual figures will depend on your income.)
Critics of The Changes
Some critics of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s U-turn say that these tax rebates will also benefit middle-income earners as much as those on smaller incomes.
This will also punch an estimated £2.7bn hole in the country’s finances as Britain faces a deep economic downturn.
“When the chancellor put this budget together he wasn’t expecting to lose £2.7bn, but I’m sure when he re-jigged his numbers, he will take account of this extra money,” said Chris Jones of tax advisers Lexis Nexis.
However this may well be good news for the economy. Taxpayers with another £60 in their pocket may well go out and spend it which in turn will boost the High Streets.
this may way balance it [the cost of the rebate] out, but probably not to the full amount.
The 22 million people who are supposed to benefit from this change are the basic rate taxpayers who pay tax at a rate of 20% and whose incomes are below the threshold for paying the higher rate tax of 40%.
This is far more than the 5.3 million people originally estimated to have been paying more tax now that the 10p tax rate has been abolished.
New Rules to Combat Mortgage Fraud
New rules have come into force to stop mortgage lenders becoming the victims of over-inflated property valuations.
From now on, developers and builders must reveal if they have offered incentives, such as cash-backs, fitted kitchens or paid-for legal fees to buyers.
Lenders are worried these incentives have led to some properties being sold for more than they are actually worth.
In particular they have been worried about newly built city-centre flats, whose prices have now slumped.
The new rules for the conveyancing industry have been issued by bodies such as the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
They have also been supported by the Law Society of England & Wales, the Home Builders’ Federation, Homes for Scotland and the Construction Employers Federation.
Builders or developers of any newly-built, converted or renovated properties will have to complete a 12-question form, revealing to lenders and surveyors any incentives they may have given to buyers.
Buyers, lenders and valuers have all been victims of the non-disclosure of incentives by developers with many buyers left with a mortgage worth more than the property’s real value,” said Barry Hall of Rics.
The CML said this would ensure that any mortgage was granted on an accurate valuation of a property, not one that was fraudulent.
“If developers ensure that they are transparent, and disclose any discounts or incentives on offer to buyers, lenders’ confidence should start to return,” said Michael Coogan of the CML.
The issue was first raised by the CML in February this year as the slump in mortgage lending started to grip the property market, leading to a sharp fall in values.
It said at the time it was worried that lenders were being duped into lending too much money by headline valuations that disguised the fact that the buyer might have been receiving thousands of pounds worth of incentives from the developer.
Some lenders now no longer lend to people who wish to buy newly built city-centre flats.
In some parts of the country, such as Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Nottingham, this has led to a highly visible glut of properties which can no longer find a buyer at their original price.
The government’s own house price index, published by the Department for Local Government and Communities (DCLG) said that the price of flats in the UK had fallen by 3.6% in a single month between May and June.
Overall property prices are now down by 10% since the start of 2008 and widely anticipated to fall much further in the next 18 months.
A PC Containing Customers Private Bank Data Sold On eBay
An investigation has been launched into how a computer containing bank customers’ personal data was sold on eBay.
The computer, bought by IT manager Andrew Chapman for £77, had the sensitive details on its hard drive.
Mr Chapman, from Oxford, said the machine contained information on several million bank customers.
Details of customers of three companies, including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its subsidiary, Natwest, were involved.
RBS said an archiving firm told it the computer had been “inappropriately sold on via a third party”.
It said historical information relating to credit card applications for its bank and others had been on the machine.
The information is said to include account details and in some cases customers’ signatures, mobile phone numbers and mothers’ maiden names.
The problem came to light when Mr Chapman, 56, bought the computer, noticed the data and raised the alarm.
He said: “I was appalled when I found the bank account information. That sort of thing shouldn’t have been listed on there.”
Mr Chapman said anyone with a basic knowledge of computer software would have been able to find the data fairly simply.
“The information was in archive Cd’s and in ISO files so it would have been possibly quite easy to find if you know something about computers,” he said.
A spokesperson for RBS and Natwest said they were taking the issue very seriously and were working to resolve it “as a matter of urgency”.
A spokeswoman for the third company reported to be involved, American Express, said it took the security of its card members’ data “extremely seriously”.
“We are currently working as a matter of priority to establish exactly what data is impacted and identify the card members who may be affected,” she said.
A spokeswoman for data processing company Mail Source, which is part of the archiving firm Graphic Data, said it was investigating how the computer equipment had been removed from a secure location.
“The IT equipment that appeared on eBay was neither planned nor instructed by the company to be disposed,” she said.
The incident was “extremely regrettable” and the firm was “taking every possible step” to retrieve the data and ensure it was an isolated incident, she added.
A spokesman for eBay said the firm was also looking into what had happened.
“Clearly such details should never have been included in the hard drive of the computer offered for sale on eBay,” said the spokesman.
“We fully expect Mr Chapman to hand it back to Graphic Data as soon as possible. We will of course work with Graphic Data to establish how it came to be available for sale on our site.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office said an investigation would be launched as soon as Mr Chapman had handed the computer in to them.
A spokeswoman said: “We are now investigating this potential data breach and will be seeking an urgent explanation from Graphic Data to establish what has gone wrong and the steps that are being taken to prevent a similar incident occurring.”
Banks have an obligation under the Data Protection Act to keep all personal information secure.
Last year the Financial Services Authority fined the Nationwide Building Society £980,000 for a security breach, after a laptop containing customer data was stolen from an employee’s home.
