So far, SOCA has refused to name the law firms, insurance companies and other large businesses which have been connected to a long-running phone hacking scandal investigated through the Leveson Inquiry. SOCA has said that publication of these names would damage their 'financial viability'.
Identity should be revealed
However, members of parliament are calling for the identity of these organisations to be revealed and have dismissed SOCA's arguments as 'absurd'. Solicitor and chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Keith Vaz MP told The Sun: 'The public have a right to know if their personal and financial information is at risk from private investigators hired by blue-chip firms….We require full transparency. There is no excuse to keep this information secret.'
Pressure
If the list of law firms is published, those practices will be under severe pressure to justify their actions. Keith Vaz added: 'The crucial question is whether those who commissioned investigators knew or ought to have known that information could only be obtained illegally.'
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