UK Firms In Breach Of Data Protection Laws, Amicus Claims

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

16 April 2003

Amicus, the UK's largest union for private sector workers, has warned that British companies which outsource call centre and data processing services to countries outside the European Union could be breaching data protection laws.

According to reports, the industry body has called for companies such as British Airways and BT to close their operations outside the EU, arguing that the 1998 Data Protection Act prohibits the transfer of consumer data to countries outside of the European community unless it can be proved that an adequate level of data protection exists in the country in question.

Speaking to the Times Online, a spokesman for Amicus revealed that:

'Some companies that process data outside of Europe said that they meet the requirements because their server is based in the UK. We feel that their customers and our members require greater safeguards to protect their personal financial information from falling into the wrong hands.'

However, BT this week responded to the union's claims by announcing that its contractual controls satisfy data protection laws.

'Our contracts include specific clauses to this effect. Our partners in India, HCL and Progeon, were selected by assessment against strict criteria which included demanding security and data protection obligations,' a spokesman explained to the Times.

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