Private detectives to need licence

[4me2]

Private detectives to need licence


The Home Office says it wants to combat rogue investigators




Operating as an unlicensed private detective is to be illegal in England and Wales, the home secretary has said.
The Home Office said it wanted to "ensure rigorous standards" in an industry where "rogue investigators" had been infringing privacy.
Those who break the new rules - to be rolled out from autumn 2014 - could face up to six months in jail.
MPs earlier said police had linked 100 firms or individuals to investigators who had obtained information illegally.

Blagging

Anyone can currently set themselves up as a private investigator, regardless of their skills or even criminal convictions.
But under the Home Office's plans, investigators will be licensed by the Security Industry Authority after completing a training course and passing a criminality check.
The new regulations do not extend to investigations carried out in relation to publishing legitimate journalism.
Home Secretary Theresa May said: "It is vital we have proper regulation of private investigators to ensure rigorous standards in this sector and the respect of individuals' rights to privacy.
"That is why I am announcing today the government's intention to regulate this industry, making it a criminal offence to operate as a private investigator without a licence.
"Anyone with a criminal conviction for data protection offences can expect to have their application for a licence refused."
Firms could be barred from being licensed if they have been involved in offences including:

• Unlawful interception of communications, such as phone hacking
• Accessing data on computers without permission
• Gathering personal details by posing as someone else, such as blagging information from a call centre
• Bribery

The Home Office said that all contractors would need to be licensed and the maximum penalty for failing to comply with the new rules would be six months in jail.

'In the shadows'

Tony Imossi, president of industry body the Association of British Investigators said the proposals were a "good start" but did not go far enough.

Analysis


Tom Symonds Home Affairs correspondent


The government's long-awaited decision to regulate private investigators will go some way towards controlling who carries out private investigation work. But the question is - will it help define the line, often blurred in practice, between what is legal and illegal?
Even the so-called "blue-chip" clients of PI firms say it can be hard to ensure the information they ask for has been legally gathered. Sometimes PIs use illegal methods to track down the information they need - and then apply legally to obtain it.


But it's unlikely regulation will quell the current accusation that not enough has been done to investigate clients known to have commissioned rogue private investigators.
Settling old scores, some in the media see this as a case of double standards in which law enforcers went after media phone hackers but not corporate commissioners of private eyes.
Publishing the list of clients who used the Operation Millipede PIs would help establish who was using investigators and why. But Soca and the police remain resolutely opposed.

The move was welcomed as a "positive step" towards protecting people from unwanted surveillance by privacy campaigners.
"For too long private investigators have been allowed to operate in the shadows," Big Brother Watch director Nick Pickles said.
It comes as pressure mounts on the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) to release the names of more than 100 companies and individuals potentially linked to rogue private investigators who were convicted of obtaining information illegally.
The Home Affairs Select Committee has published a breakdown by business sector of clients linked to the jailed investigators, but has not named them individually.
Chairman Keith Vaz said the identities of the firms and individuals had been held back from the report so as not to "compromise" any investigations by the police or information commissioner.
Eight of the clients on the list were used as evidence in prosecutions under Operation Millipede, an investigation that led to the conviction of four private detectives for fraud last year. A further 94 were judged as potentially relevant to the case, but not used as evidence.
"When we publish our report into private investigators, we would like to be in a position where we publish the entire list," the Labour MP added.
Meanwhile Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said: "I have a lot of sympathy with those who say, if there are big companies and organisations that are using private investigators to find information about individuals and organisations, they should be open about it."
The clients include 22 law firms, financial services and insurance firms, accountants and two celebrities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23519690

[JonEp]

Well as someone who legally sells personal data on a wholesale basis to private investigators and others I agree there needs to be some regulation and licencing in place.

The thing is this news story is recycled. They were going to do this a few years ago but scraped the idea because the SIA were deemed to be a qango that could be got rid of in the cuts.

Lots of people will get rich as a result of this providing training etc but it won't prevent blaggers practicing the dark arts.

[Roach-Rampino]

Sort of linked to this story so didn't start a new thread:

Soca chief Sir Ian Andrews quits in blue-chip hacking scandal

Hundreds of firms and individuals linked to rogue private investigators could be named after the chairman of the police unit blocking their release resigned, an MP has suggested.
Sir Ian Andrews has resigned as chairman of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) after it emerged he had failed to declare his directorship with legal and management consultancy Abis Partnership - contrary to the agency's strict rules.

His decision to step down follows a protracted investigation by The Independent into the widespread use of rogue investigators, and comes amid the ‘blue-chip hacking’ scandal surrounding a list of 102 firms and individuals linked to rogue private investigators that Soca recently handed over to the Home Affairs Select Committee on condition that their names are not revealed.
But Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the Commons Committee, which is in possession of the coveted list, said he would ask Sir Ian's successor to review this decision.
Mr Vaz said: "Sir Ian was part of the decision making process that required that the Home Affairs Select Committee kept the lists that Soca sent us confidential.
"I shall be writing to his successor to ask if he or she will now review this decision."

Pressure had been mounting on Sir Ian and Soca to release the so-called "blue-chip hacking" list linked to Operation Millipede, which led to the conviction of four private detectives for fraud last year.
The list features eight firms that featured in evidence in the prosecutions, as well as 94 other organisations which were relevant to the inquiry but not used in evidence.
A total of 22 law firms feature on the 102-strong list, alongside several insurance companies, financial services groups and two celebrities, among others.

A Soca spokeswoman: "The Home Secretary has today accepted the resignation of Sir Ian Andrews as chair of the Soca board.
"Sir Ian offered his resignation after realising he had neglected to register his directorship of Abis Partnership Ltd. The Soca code demands that all directors' interests are declared."
Sir Ian, who will officially step down tomorrow, wrote to the Home Affairs Select Committee after it emerged last week that his wife, Moira Andrews, is employed as the head lawyer for Good Governance Group (G3) - a global private investigations firm.

He told the group of MPs that it was a "matter of public record that my wife, Moira Andrews, after leaving the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2011 and amongst other independent interests, became General Counsel of G3, a role she has filled since 2012 as a part-time consultant".
Both the Home Office and Soca have denied that Sir Ian's departure is connected to the revelations concerning his wife.
Sir Ian has worked in public service for more than four decades and took up his post as chairman of Soca in 2009.
In paying tribute to his public service, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "It is with regret that I have accepted Sir Ian Andrews' offer of resignation as chairman of Soca.
"Sir Ian has had four decades of distinguished public service in roles ranging from second permanent secretary and chief executive of Defence Estates, to his current position as the chairman of Soca. An interim appointment will be made in due course."

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...l-8742235.html