The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched an investigation into
Barclays Bank following the recent Whistleblower programme on the BBC which exposed alleged breaches of customer privacy at the high street bank.

It revealed the findings of a nine month investigation conducted by two journalists and focused particularly on working practices adopted by management and staff in Barclays’ customer call centres.

The ICO’s investigation will establish if Barclays has breached the Data Protection
Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). The ICO
has requested the following information from the bank:
• the results of Barclays’ internal inquiry into matters raised by the programme
• a copy of Barclays’ policies and procedures with regard to telephone sales
• an explanation outlining why Barclays’ policies and procedures - in respect
of direct marketing and access to customers’ accounts - appear to have
been deliberately flouted

A number of issues are of concern to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
One staff trainer told employees to ignore the wishes of customers who had stated that they did not wish to receive sales information or be contacted.

Call centre marketing staff were told to identify themselves as ‘account consultants’ when speaking to customers, rather than use their normal title of ‘sales adviser’.

The film also showed call centre staff accessing customers’ accounts without a valid reason.