14 DAY TRIAL // BT is suspected of violating the UK data protection legislation, after admitting to sending an unencrypted document with personal information of hundreds of its customers to a law firm.
Following the leak of an email database earlier this week from UK-based ACS:Law Solicitors, a law firm involved in anti-piracy efforts, thousands of broadband subscribers have found their personal information exposed on the Internet.
The data breach involves unencrypted Excel spreadsheets containing the names, addresses and IPs of Internet users suspected of copyright infringement, that were attached to some of the leaked ACS:Law emails.
The information was legally obtained by the firm from ISPs, however, according to a High Court ruling dating 7 July 2010, all such information must be provided by Internet service providers in encrypted form.
It appears that one of the documents found contains the personal details of around 400 customers of PlusNet plc, a company owned by BT Group since 2007.
So far, the telecom giant has not been able to confirm the leak, but according to a BTCare community moderator named Nigel E., the company is pressuring ACS:Law for a confirmation.
He also writes that "BT can confirm that it did send unencrypted data to ACS Law" and that "We were obliged to comply with court orders to provide information to ACS Law, as was any other ISP, where they were served with such orders."
The unencrypted list of PlusNet customers appears to have been sent to ACS:Law by a BT lawyer named Prakash Mistry, in accordance with a court order issued back in February.
Mr. Nigel E. points out that the Information Commissioner's Office has been alerted and an internal investigation into the incident has also been started.
The company claims that in the future it will resist efforts to share customer data with right holders or their representatives, until it is presented with strong evidence of copyright infringement.
"We have already ensured that this type of incident will not happen again," the BT spokesperson stressed.