Derby Crown Court in England heard that Lara Davies accessed the information while her partner was involved in a legal dispute over divorce terms. When eBay transactions were produced in a meeting, the ex-wife became suspicious that her account had been viewed.
When Barclays was contacted about the issue it launched an investigation, and Ms Davies left her job.

Trust abused

According to the office of the UK’s Information Commissioner’s, Ms Davies pleaded guilty to 11 Data Protection Act offences, was fined £500 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £1,410.80 prosecution costs.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham commented: ‘High street bank staff have access to financial information on a day-to-day basis, and are expected to treat that privilege with professionalism. When that trust is abused, and the personal data they access is misused, the law is very clear, as this case has shown.
‘The only surprise here is that – in an age where our personal information is being stored and accessed by more organisations than ever – the penalties for abusing the system are so inadequate.’
Mr Graham added that the case shows that more effective deterrents are required, as access to personal information it ‘all too easy and all too common’.