According to The CoventryLive, an ex Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council manager leaked rival CVs to his partner to help get her a job at the Town Hall, a court heard.
Kevin Bunsell, the former head of building control at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, passed personal data of rival job applicants to his partner after she applied for job at the the local authority.
Back in July 2017, the Bedworth resident's partner applied for an administrative job at the council and Bunsell was not involved in the selection process because of his personal relationship.
But, he accessed the authority’s recruitment system and emailed the personal information of the nine shortlisted candidates to both his own work email address and also his partner’s Hotmail account.
Details he shared included the name, address, telephone number and CV of each candidate, along with contact details for each of their two referees.
Nuneaton Magistrates Court court was told that once the data breach had been discovered, Bunsell resigned and although his partner had initially been successful in her application, her employment was also terminated because she had had been appointed on the basis of an invalid recruitment process.
Bunsell, aged 60, of Pembroke Close, Bedworth, admitted a charge of unlawfully sharing data in breach of s55 of the Data Protection Act 1998.
He was fined £660 and was also ordered to pay £713.75 costs and a victim surcharge of £66.
Steve Eckersley, Director of Investigations at the Information Commissioner’s Office, which brought the prosecution, said: “People who supply their personal information to an organisation in good faith, such as when applying for a job, have a right to expect it will be treated lawfully and ethically.” Not respecting people’s legal right to privacy can have serious consequences, as this case demonstrates.
"Not only might you face a prosecution and fine, along with the attendant publicity, but you may also lose your job and severely damage your future career prospects.”
Coventry Live contacted Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council for a comment and a statement was provided from councillor Jill Sheppard, cabinet member for central services.
It says: “As a local authority, we take our responsibilities under data protection legislation very seriously and we have put in place robust management arrangements to support them, including appropriate training for employees.” We are totally committed to safeguarding personal data and will take appropriate action in relation to any breaches of regulation.”
