Tax office cracks down on snooping by its staff

The InlandRevenue has launched a drive to stop employees browsing through people's tax records and selling information on celebrities.

Tougher disciplinary penalties are to be introduced after 226 cases of "computer misuse" were discovered in 2001, but only two staff were prosecuted.

Not all the browsing involved the tax records of the rich and famous. Some workers found out how much their former spouse was earning and passed the information to the Child Support Agency.

Last night the Inland Revenue confirmed a story in today's issue of Computer Weekly magazine, saying there will be a new policy aimed at preventing computer abuse.

A spokesman said: "The board has become aware of an amount of unauthorised browsing and, as a result of this, the department needs to draw together a policy to clarify the rules on computer misuse and tighten up the disciplinary consequences of misuse."

Tony Dwyer, of the Inland Revenue's human resource and discipline section, said: "There have been a number of instances of celebrity browsing, or looking up the details of family or friends out of idle curiosity. But there is also evidence that some people are using the information maliciously. For example, finding out how much an ex-spouse earns and passing information to the Child Support Agency or even selling the information to outside agencies. That is clearly a breach of customer confidentiality and the Data Protection Act."

The Revenue believes information on some celebrities has been offered to the press.

Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, said he was unaware that Revenue staff were selling tax details. "It is a serious offence –with an unlimited fine – to sell or buy personal data without the consent of the organisation that holds the information," he said. "I will not hesitate to take enforcement action where there is evidence of serious criminal conduct."

An internal newsletter warns Revenue staff computer systems automatically log how they are used. Disciplinary action has been taken against staff who browsed records of celebrities, accessed other records without authorisation or sent abusive or obscene e-mails. Punishments included a bar on promotion and financial penalties.

The Inland Revenue stressed that very few of the 60,000 staff with access to computers were involved in any breach. The Revenue holds tax and national insurance records on 60 million people.

The Revenue's policy says sensitive information is "encrypted to protect confidentiality and protected according to industry best practice". It assures taxpayers their records are confidential and will only be disclosed to other bodies for legal reasons. However, another internal circular says that, with authorisation, staff can pass information on taxpayers to organisations including local authorities.

The Government is extending the use of "data matching" between different agencies to combat crime.