Andy, I haven't seen those reports this morning but as I've said in a previous post the ICO will likely take the view that it is a breach but Mr F can pursue it through the civil courts. With companies losing large amounts of pension and salary data I expect the ICO is busy elsewhere :-)
Ed.
Firstly, the BBC journalist wasn't after names: “In Morocco, it’s illegal to have a gay relationship. Do you have any gay players in your squad and what’s life like for them in Morocco?” It was a general questions, no asking for personal data such as names; but I agree not one to put to the team captain, but a resonable one to put to authorities in a counry with homophobic laws, perhaps just to put them on the spot, or to test the water for signs of hypocrisy? For example, will they turn a blind eye if someone's a great sports person and a key asset in the team?
Secondly, the DPA2018, if I remember correctly, basically enabled enforcement of the EU GDPR in UK law and courts - my lawyer friends would probably say that's an over simplification but it's probably good enough for this forum. I'm not too familiar with the DPA18 so there could be the odd item that translates to the criminal law but from my memory of reading the GDPR a couple of times or so most enforcement powers are vested in the regulators of each country, in the UK's case the ICO, or the civil courts. Of course since Brexit we now have the UK GDPR and the corresponding DPA enabling that but in reality I don't think this changed much other than the ECoJ is no longer the final arbiter in UK DP cases (although I suppose cases could go to the ECHR as that's where the data protection story began). In hacking cases where systems have been accessed without authorisation then the Computer Misuse Act would come into play and then there would be a criminal offence to answer, but that's not relevant here: no systems were used to gain the data. I suspect it's more likely that NatWest and its CEO would trip over banking law or regulations?
The BBC was only doing what most journalists do: get information not in the public domain for a story that they considered to be in the public interest. A lot of journalism is of a dubious nature - look at the recent cases concerning hacking of phones and also the closure of the News of the World several years back - but sometimes the revelations are useful. I heard Prince Harry can pursue a case against the Sun.
It may be an unintended consequence of the NatWest CEOs breach of confidence is an improvement in banking regulations concerning account closures by banks.
Michael Ixer ● 922d