14 DAY TRIAL // Panic struck many members of the whites-only right wing British National Party (BNP) when they found out that their personal details had been leaked out on the Internet. The membership list of the BNP, which is now posted online on multiple websites as well as p2p networks, contains personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, and even comments about their current or former employment, hobbies or family.
The BNP has long been the subject of controversy in the UK and Europe, being tagged as an anti-semitic political party, with its former leaders openly expressing their racist beliefs. Because of this, the afore-mentioned leak has the potential not only to expose people to identity theft, but more seriously, to endanger their lives.
“What if they give the list to ANTIFA? ANTIFA [Anti-Fascist Action, a militant anti-fascist organization] have just teamed up with BETA TAGAR [Betar – Tagar, a zionist movement]. The Tagarines would petrol bomb us in our homes,“ commented a BNP member, under the protection of anonymity. Organizations such as the ones mentioned above are known for having engaged in violent acts before.
Some of the members on the list also risk losing their jobs, as several professions in the UK prohibit active political party activity. Some even explicitly prohibit BNP membership. For example, police officers can be dismissed, if found to be members of the BNP. “I'm also on the list, what [expletive] is going on? I could lose my job,” wrote a BNP member on a blog. “I've just had a call, I'm on it to. I want my [expletive] member money back, like has been mentioned here, I could lose my [expletive] job. I'm bloody angry,” confirmed another.
Because the party accepts family membership, the list also contains the names of children who did not yet turn 18. "We are worried because kids' names are on the list. It is not information that should be in the public domain,” said Simon Darby, spokesman for the BNP, to The Guardian. “We are always receiving death threats," he added, suggesting the very real danger.
According to Mr. Darby, the party was aware of the fact that the list had been stolen for some time, and added that they obtained a court injunction prohibiting its release. He claims that, when it was stolen from a secure location, the list was passwordprotected and encrypted. "This isn't a question of us mislaying the information, this is theft," he said. The list contains information on 10,000 current as well as former members up to September 2008.
Darby also pointed out that the party contacted the police and was working on taking the list offline. This is hard to achieve, considering that the list has hit the peer-to-peer networks, and a great amount of people have already downloaded it. Even he was uncertain of the success of such actions. "Once it's out, it's out," he concluded.