back to article Emma's Diary fined £140k for flogging data on over a million new mums to Labour Party

Data-brokering biz Lifecycle Marketing (Mother & Baby) has been fined £140,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for illegally collating and flogging personal information of more than a million people. The Buckinghamshire-based business, also known as Emma's Diary, issues advice on pregnancy and childcare. It sold …

  1. Only me!
    WTF?

    UK's 11 main political parties

    11 MAIN parties......wow is there really that many of them?

    Somehow there just seems to be 2.5 and the 0.5 bit is the only thing that changes.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: UK's 11 main political parties

      And there talk of a new one to take the center ground.

      You know where the Liberals should be, although as Vince Cable is reputed to be one of the architects you wonder if its just a merger and rejig of the the Liberals (and the SDP before that!) with a few others.

      1. Chris G

        Re: UK's 11 main political parties

        There is also talk of Bliarites in the Labour party splitting off to form a left leaning centrist party if they can't get rid of Corbyn. Labour splitting would pretty much remove them as contenders at the next election I think.

        Pity there are no other real alternatives to vote for. The right is crap, the left is crap and the centre is full of ' Don't Kows' .

        What the UK needs is a charismatic character who could drain the swamp and make Britain great again.........no...wait !

        1. Notas Badoff

          Re: UK's 11 main political parties

          "Pity there are no other real alternatives to vote for. The right is crap, the left is crap and the centre is full of ' Don't Kows' ."

          And there are no alternatives to the "Don't know hows"

          1. Aladdin Sane

            Re: UK's 11 main political parties

            There's always the Monster Raving Loony Party.

            1. Warm Braw

              Re: UK's 11 main political parties

              There's always the Monster Raving Loony Party

              I fear their trademark has become debased by blatant passing-off...

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: UK's 11 main political parties

          Sadly in many Labour held constituencies, they could put up a blind pig as candidate and it would still get elected with more than 50% of the vote. B.Liar only got in (according to my pa who was labour through and through) because he had the Trade Union Vote behind him.

          Corbyn is a different beast with his 'Momentum' activists working to oust any sitting MP that won't to his hard line.

          Mind you the Tory party is just as split so the next election (May 2019 is my bet) will be interesting.

          1. Wellyboot Silver badge

            Re: UK's 11 main political parties

            >>Sadly in many Labour held constituencies, they could put up a blind pig as candidate and it would still get elected with more than 50% of the vote.<<

            Not Just Labour, 126 (20%) MPs have been in place since before 2001. Many seats haven't changed 'owner' in decades, only 50 or so seats changed party (any direction) in 2017 and that nearly resulted in a change of government.

            1. Pen-y-gors

              Re: UK's 11 main political parties

              Sadly in many Labour held constituencies, they could put up a blind pig as candidate and it would still get elected with more than 50% of the vote

              Very much not just Labour. In many Tory seats they have put up a blind pig and they got elected.

              1. Roj Blake Silver badge

                Re: In many Tory seats they have put up a blind pig and they got elected.

                And the things that pig had to do to get the nomination...

          2. The Nazz

            Re: UK's 11 main political parties

            Given the typical labour held seat up here in the grim north, i'm not sure a pig, blind or not, would be that popular.

        3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: UK's 11 main political parties

          There is also talk of OwenitesBliarites in the Labour party splitting off to form a left leaning centerist social democratic party if they can't get rid of footCorbyn

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            There is also talk ...

            That would be a Monster Raving Ego Party, full of opportunists and importunists, but signifying nothing.

        4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: UK's 11 main political parties

          "What the UK needs is a charismatic character who could drain the swamp and make Britain great again.........no...wait !"

          Are you talking about Johnson or Farage? Oh, the horror!!

    2. katrinab Silver badge

      Re: UK's 11 main political parties

      In England:

      Tories, Labour, Lib Dems, Co-operative Party (they have 37 MPs in Westminster who sit with Labour)

      In Scotland:

      Add SNP to the above

      In Wales

      Add Plaid Cymru to the above

      In Northern Ireland

      DUP, Ulster Unionist, SDLP, Sinn Féin

      That's 10 parties.

      You could maybe add UKIP, Greens and Alliance

      I believe some of the big English parties have separate registrations in Scotland and Wales.

      So I guess you can find 11 main parties.

      1. Wellyboot Silver badge

        Re: UK's 11 main political parties

        @katrinab >>So I guess you can find 11 main parties.<<

        11 - UKIP

        No MPs but they do have 18 MEPs out of the UKs 73, (Con 18, Lab 20)

        As of March 30 2019 there will indeed be only 10 major parties and 73 ex MEPs looking for a new way to represent us. (or a new trough if you prefer).

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. getHandle

    ICO huh?

    Can I get them to find and fine the barstewards who sold on the details of my recent car insurance claim to a load of bottom-feeding accident claim management companies??

    1. Velv
      Coat

      Re: ICO huh?

      Perhaps the ICO could randomly contact a load of people and find out if they’ve been approached about accident claims?

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: ICO huh?

      "Can I get them to find and fine the barstewards who sold on the details of my recent car insurance claim to a load of bottom-feeding accident claim management companies?"

      Not unless you register a complaint about it.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Checking sources....

    Presumably, if the Labour party requested Experian to gather this data, and Experian gathered this from Emma's diary, then both parties should have used "due dilligence" to ascertain the data had been obtained legitimately? Have experian and labour been investigated and fined too for unlawful use of this data?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Checking sources....

      "Have experian and labour been investigated and fined too for unlawful use of this data?"

      Unfortunately under the terms of the DPA, ICO simply doesn't have the power to do that. Under GDPR it does. Had these offences occurred in the last 3 months the penalties could be much larger and much more broad. It didn't so they aren't.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Should have been more given the domain

    I'm fed up with these 'new mum' companies that are just there to collect information, because they're just preying on exhausted vulnerable new mums who's last thought it to worry about data privicy - and they shouldn't have to. £140k is not enough for the breach of human decency.

    Though to be fair there's another similar company who are even worse - they've somehow managed to get their reps installed in hospitals who then patrol the maternity wards looking for exhausted mothers who'll hand over all kinds of data because they're (rightly) thinking about their baby and not about some fcukweasel data brokers.

    /rant over

    1. }{amis}{
      Flame

      Re: Should have been more given the domain

      Though to be fair there's another similar company who are even worse - they've somehow managed to get their reps installed in hospitals who then patrol the maternity wards looking for exhausted mothers who'll hand over all kinds of data because they're (rightly) thinking about their baby and not about some fcukweasel data brokers.

      I think about 10 years of community service washing used nappies by hand is appropriate for that kind of S@~%

    2. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: Should have been more given the domain

      "there's another similar company who are even worse "

      You can always let the ICO know about them.

      1. Uberior

        You can always let the ICO know about them.

        The ICO is completely swamped post GDPR and calls that are holding drop after 60 minutes.

        They don't respond to email enquiries and their "Live Chat" function hasn't worked (for me anyway) since May.

        1. katrinab Silver badge

          Re: You can always let the ICO know about them.

          They responded to me when I reported Sainsburys for having video cameras pointed at their card reader pin pads.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Should have been more given the domain

        or let us know about them.

    3. Wellyboot Silver badge

      Re: Should have been more given the domain

      >>reps...patrol the maternity wards<<

      Anyone who isn't family, close friend or staff has absolutely no business being in a maternity ward.

    4. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Should have been more given the domain

      Calling themselves "Emma's Diary" sounds so much nicer than "Lifecycle Marketing". I wonder how many new Mums would have agreed to hand over their details if they'd been approached by the latter rather than the former?

  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Talk about crawling out of the woodwork

    ... in just about every possible sense of the expression.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Targeting new mums? I thought they got rid of new labour.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    14p?

    So the fine for misusing my personal details is 14p?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Meh

      Re: 14p?

      So the fine for misusing my personal details is 14p?

      Not necessarily. If a company receives £X for your personal details and has to pay the ICO £Y as a penalty, then if £Y > £X it is a fine; but if £X > £Y then it is just a business expense.

      It is slightly more complicated than that, since being fined isn't very tax efficient - they can't offset it against tax, but I'm sure a company can factor that into their pricing and they will be minimising their tax bill anyway. e.g. if the ICO can only fine £0.5M (not sure if that is true going forward with GDPR) then they are probably OK if they never sell anything for < £1M. i.e. to be profitable their misuse, in this scenario, should always be substantial.

    2. Wellyboot Silver badge

      Re: 14p?

      Indeed, 14p at most. On a big enough scale these fines become incidental costs.

      The penalty should be assessed as starting from £10 per individuals data point and jail time for directors if the organisation can't pay up.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ONE MILLION pregnant idiots can not go wrong...

    neeext!!!

    p.s. how much was their operation costs, aka "fine", £140K? And how much did they make flogging that data? Not bad, not bad at all, certainly beats 9 to 5!

  9. m-k

    so how much fine

    for experian and labour party?

    What?!

    Oh, it's not illegal to handle and buy stolen goods... Well, all's well then!

    1. LordBlagger

      Re: so how much fine

      Quite.

      It takes two to tango.

      Why no fine for Labour?

  10. DCFusor

    So

    Something politically evil happened with no Russians in sight? Color me shocked, shocked, I tell you.

    And the credit agencies are a foe we know we can't overcome...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So

      Labour lost so clearly it wasn't the Russians as they only back the winners...

      At east I believe that's the current thinking on vote rigging.

  11. nuked
    Megaphone

    These DPA fines are just a rounding error for the companies involved. Complete joke. The sooner GDPR demonstrates a fine up to the alleged "4% of revenue" the better, and then these cowboys might start behaving themselves.

    1. Aladdin Sane

      It'll happen, but the offences that are hitting headlines currently were committed under the old DPA.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When is a £140K breach of the DPA not a breach of GDPR?

    I don't think we will ever see a 4% fine for any business over a certain size. Too many brown envelopes and revolving doors.

    1. DJO Silver badge

      Re: When is a £140K breach of the DPA not a breach of GDPR?

      When is a £140K breach of the DPA not a breach of GDPR?

      When it was committed before the GDPR came into force.

      You really do not want to give this or any government the ability to introduce new laws retrospectively.

  13. ma1010
    Flame

    Experian CHARGED them?

    I can't figure out why anyone paid Experian for this information. After all, Experian GAVE AWAY my personal information (along with that of millions of others) because they didn't have enough sense to patch a known vulnerability.

    In the US, our alleged public guardians immediately swung into action, giving Experian a resounding "Now, now, don't do it again until next time!" No fine or other penalties, of course.

  14. The Nazz

    A complication of teenage new mums?

    To pinch a Lee Hazlewood song title "It's an actuality" that some of these new mums are under the age of 18, certainly prevalent around here, is there any special consideration given to Experian collecting their data from what are, effectively in modern terminology, still "children" themselves?

  15. ecofeco Silver badge
    Facepalm

    That's gotta hurt!

    A slap on the wrist like that must be oh, so painful!

    /s

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If political parties want our personal information

    Can we get all the personal information of anyone running for political office published? (NOT the spin-doctored version)

    1. paulf
      Pirate

      Re: If political parties want our personal information

      That should include their proper home address, not the address of the small 1 bedroom flat they've rented (or bought on expenses) in the constituency to adhere to the letter of the rules.

  17. Claverhouse Silver badge
    Happy

    He Just Wanted Love

    Any near-sighted pig nominated for the house of commons would be nervously looking around his/her shoulder constantly for the fat figure of The Demon Butler grinning happily behind.

    Still, I expect Dave to be in the house of lords within a few years, nominated in gratitude by the new prime minister, the Tyrant Trump of Demonland's Vicar in Britannia Magna: Lord Protector Nigel Farage.

    1. paulf
      Alert

      Re: He Just Wanted Love

      Don't hold your breath.

      In terms of ex-PM honours John Major was the last in 2005 (8 years after leaving No 10). Tony Blair is pending (left No 10 eleven years ago in 2007), as are Gordon Brown and David Cameron (left No 10 in 2010 and 2016 respectively). Until they figure out a way to make a PM gong for Blair palatable to all the people who didn't like him "Call me Dave" could be waiting a long time!

  18. B Bunter

    I came here to see a flurry of bad puns about a plethora of new mums going into labour. I was disappointed.

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