Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)
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Operation Motorman was a 2003 investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office into allegations of offences under the Data Protection Act by the British press.[1][2][3]
The ICO first became aware of the scale of the problem in November 2002, when an ICO investigator attended a search under warrant of John Boyall, a private investigator in Surrey. Documents found on the premises revealed the misuse of data from the Police National Computer. This discovery led to two investigations: Operation Motorman, conducted by the ICO, and Operation Glade, conducted by the Metropolitan Police.
The ICO later obtained search warrants for the Hampshire office of a private detective Steve Whittamore.[4] A huge cache of documents revealed, in precise detail, a network of police and public employees illegally selling personal information obtained from government computer systems.
In February 2004, four suspects plead guilty to conspiring to commit misconduct in public office: Wittamore and Boyall, retired police officer Alan King, and Paul Marshall, a police communications officer.
References
- ^ Rachel McAthy (February 4th, 2011). "Observer seeks to distinguish 'Operation Motorman' from the phone-hacking scandal". journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Laura Tyler and Phil Hartley (8 March 2011). "Fleet Street phone-hacking scandal: a legal perspective". The In-House Lawyer. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ "What Price Privacy?". Information Commissioner's Office. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ James Robinson (21 September 2010). "Newspapers used me as fall guy, says convicted private eye". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
See also
- Operation Weeting
- Operation Tuleta
- Operation Elveden
- Operation Rubicon
- Operation Glade
- News International phone hacking scandal