ACS:Law Fined Following Exposure of 6,000 Computer Users
Mon 16 May, 2011 // Chris Allan
The Information Commissioner has again shown that breaches of data protection law will not be tolerated in fining solicitor Andrew Crossley who headed the law firm ACS:Law. The fine, which it is reported would have been in the order of £200,000 if ACS:Law had not ceased trading, was levied for a data breach that exposed private details of 6,000 users.
Back in January 2011, solicitor Andrew Crossley unexpectedly withdrew in the midst of a court case he brought. Crossley, who headed the law firm ACS:Law, had been involved in the pursuit of alleged illegal file sharers on behalf of his client MediaCAT.
The law firm sent out thousands of letters of accusation to those deemed guilty of the illegal downloading of files. ACS:Law would then demand a one off fine from the accused, or face a court case being brought against them.
After the withdrawal from the court case at the start of the year, ACS:Law's client, MediaCAT ceased trading the following month, but not before the resignation of Crossley himself when it was discovered that he and his firm had been involved in questionable dealings throughout its association with MediaCAT.
The latest development saw Mr Crossley receive a £1,000 fine for the exposure of some 6,000 users' personal details. The data breach occurred in September 2010, when hacktivist group Anonymous infiltrated the site and exposed thousands of private e-mail correspondence.
The group targeted ACS:Law to demonstrate their disapproval of the tactics used by the law firm in their pursuit of illegal file-sharing activity. In addition to a list of personal user details, a list of pornographic material they were accused of downloading illegally was also made public.
For many, the fine is a somewhat negligible amount, considering the revenue generated by Crossley throughout the illegal file-sharing scheme. It is believed that Mr Crossley had demanded payments of approximately £400 - 500 per infringement in order to avoid being taken to court.
However, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham insisted the fine would have been far heavier had it not been for the fact that Crossley was not in a financial position to pay it. If ACS:Law had not ceased trading, the fine would have been around £200,000.
One industry commentator who was particularly disappointed at the severity of the fine was Deborah Prince, head of legal affairs at consumer watchdog Which?. She said:
“ACS Law demanded around £400 from each of the people it accused of illegal file sharing, yet for a serious breach of data protection law, it gets a paltry fine of £1,000. This is utterly inadequate -- the ICO should have imposed an appropriate sanction.”
Meanwhile, the ICO has called for greater authority in matters of data breach investigation, and for heightened powers to delve further into individuals' finances.
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