Major charities are fined for snooping on donors’ wealth

‘Millions affected’ as organisations pried into supporters’ income, property value and friends

SOME of Britain’s largest charities have been fined thousands of pounds by the Information Commissioner’s Office after hiring private companies to snoop on their donors’ wealth.

The ICO said that millions of donors had had their information misused by 11 charities who broke data protection laws while pushing for donations.

The charities, which include Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the Royal British Legion, the NSPCC and Oxfam, were fined between £6,000 and £18,000 for collecting information about donors without their knowledge.

The privacy watchdog said that some of the charities had been secretly collecting detailed information about donors, including their income, property values and friendship circles.

Major charities including Cancer Research UK, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, The Royal British Legion, and the NSPCC had been illegally screening their supporters, the ICO said, in order to target the wealthiest donors, in particular to persuade them to leave the charity a legacy in their will.

Four of the charities were also fined for sharing information between themselves without donors’ permission. The ICO said that some of them “don’t know if the information has been shared one or one hundred times”. Oxfam and Bat- tersea Dogs and Cats Home were fined for “tele-matching”, which is using information they already have to search for more contact information about donors even if they had not given their permission.

Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said: “Millions of people will have been affected by these charities’ contravention of the law. They will be upset to learn the way their personal information has been analysed and shared by charities they trusted with their details and their donations.”

The NSPCC called its £12,000 fine “unjustified” and said it was “disappointed” with the ICO’s decision.

Cancer Support UK described its £16,000 fine for sharing data with organisations, including lottery and prize promotion companies, “ill founded, excessive and disproportionate”. An appeal is being considered.

‘Millions of people will have been affected. They will be upset to learn the way their personal information has been analysed and shared by charities they trusted ’