United Kingdoms’ Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has slapped a huge fine against RSPCA and British Heart Foundation for showing disregard to the privacy of their millions of donors.
Going further into the story- a few months ago, UK’s top media resource Daily Mail(DM) reported that some charity organizations like RSPCA were paying investigators to track how much money will the donors leave in their wills after their demise. This practice was carried out by keeping benefactors in dark.
RSPCA has agreed in the latest hearing that it has snooped into the financial accounts of its seven million donors in the disguise of wealth checks. Perhaps in some cases, the charity organization has also worked out with financial analysts on how much their donors might leave in their wills after their death. For this reason, the Royal Society For Prevention to Cruelty Towards Animals was slapped a fine for overlooking the privacy rules created for donors.
Likewise, British Heart Foundation(BHF) was also found guilty of sharing its donor details with an investigative firm which in turn secretly snooped into the wealth of donors. So, the organization was slapped a fine worth 18,000 pounds for now.
The Information Commissioner Office(ICO) learned that RSPCA and other such charity organizations were using the donated gifts and funds meant to treat suffering animals for this activity.
The data watchdog concluded yesterday that RSPCA was caught abusing the trust with complete proof. BHF was also found guilty in the allegation made by DM.
ICO also added that the two organizations put donors personal data for sale to some marketing firms outside the UK. So, both the charities could have faced a fine of £ 250,000.
But Ms. Denham fined just £ 25,000 to RSPCA and £ 18,000 to British Heart Foundation considering the social service status of both these firms. But if they continue to show such a disregard for people’s privacy, the commissioner has warned both the firms that their proximity will be annulled forever.
