More than 300 journalists named in unlawful trade in private data
‘In one major case investigated by the ICO, the evidence included records of information supplied to 305 named journalists working for a range of newspapers.’
– What price privacy?, Information Commissioner’s Office, May 2006
The habitual hacking of mobile phones belonging to celebrities and politicians, apparently uncovered by the Guardian, should be the trigger point for a scandal as damaging to our media – predominantly the print media – as the Telegraph’s revelations on MPs’ expenses.
And yet this is terribly old news: in May 2006 the Information Commissioners’ Office claimed to have the names of 305 journalists who unlawfully traded in personal information. That claim was made in a report to parliament, What price privacy? (see paragraph 1.8 and elsewhere), but made no impact on our media establishment.
This revelation was not a scandal because our newspapers, for obvious reasons, kept quiet and our politicians were too afraid to take them on.
Even today, of our national press only the Guardian led on the news that the deputy prime minister’s mobile was on a hacker’s list along with those of many celebrities, including the recently sainted Jade Goody. A juicy story for everyone this was not.
Now that the Guardian has broken ranks and broadcast media is giving the story the prominence it deserves we may be on the verge of something momentous, but don’t hold your breath.
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