ID thieves face porridge threat

The government is proposing to introduce tough new penalties that could see identity thieves jailed for up to two years.

Under the current law, breaches of the Data Protection Act can only be punished with fines through the courts.

The government is proposing to amend this to allow for - in addition to the existing fines - up to six months' imprisonment on summary conviction and up to two years in jail if convicted on indictment.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) will first undertake a public consultation on the new sentencing proposals.

The government's change in tact follows a warning by the UK's data protection watchdog information commissioner Richard Thomas earlier this year, in the report What Price Privacy?, that current penalties are not proving an effective deterrent to ID thieves.

Responding to the DCA consultation, he said: "These proposals will help by ensuring that anyone who might be tempted to misuse personal information for private gain knows that they could go to prison if they do so."

Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said the new punishments will cover "deliberate and wilful misuse" of personal information and that front-line public sector staff who make an error of judgement while sharing data will not be penalised.

The DCA consultation is open until 30 October 2006.