View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Media Law
November 15, 2011

Daily Mail: Operation Motorman data requests were legal

By Andrew Pugh

Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers claims that of the 1,218 requests for information it made to a private investigator there was no evidence to prove any of them were illegal.

Private investigator Steve Whittamore was given a two-year conditional discharge in 2005 after he was found guilty of obtaining and disclosing information under the Data Protection Act by the Met’s Operation Motorman.

A subsequent report by the Information Commissioner found the majority of requests – both legal and illegal – were from journalists, with the Daily Mail topping the list with 952 entries from 85 journalists and the Mail on Sunday in third place with 266 requests from 33 journalists.

Addressing the Leveson Inquiry today Jonathan Caplan, counsel for Daily publisher Associated Newspapers, claimed that ‘newspapers are by no means the worst offenders’on data crime and noted that no penalties had been brought against newspapers under the Data Protection Act.

‘In our submission it is no way to be compared to the conduct of phone hacking,’he said. ‘It is especially important to draw a distinction between phone-hacking, which is the illegal interception of private voicemails, and the kind of conduct which was the subject of the Information Commissioner’s reports.’

Caplan argued that Whittamore was primarily hired by organisations to obtain addresses and telephone numbers ‘most of which, not all of which, could legally have been obtained if the individual had had the time to research it”.

Commenting on Associated’s use of Whittamore, he told the inquiry: ‘His assistance was required as far as Associated journalists were concerned to help trace people quickly, usually to verify facts or to comment on stories that were written or in progress prior to publication.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

‘It should also be stressed that Mr Whittamore did not work simply for newspapers, he was hired by organisations such as banks, local authorities and firms of solicitors who were similarly seeking to locate people.

‘While Mr Whittamore was prosecuted no journalist has ever been charged because there simply is no evidence they ever asked Mr Whittamore to do anything illegal, or they knew he was, or might, be illegally accessing databases.

‘Another key difference between phone-hacking and the data provision provided by Mr Whittamore was that journalists using him were not engaged in fishing expeditions.”

Caplan said that when the Information Commissioner’s report ‘What price privacy now?’ was published in December 2006, Associated Newspaper’s editor-in-chief Paul Dacre banned the use of all inquiry agents.

‘It was made quite clear that Associated would not pay for them and that compliance with the Data Protection Act was to become, and is, a term in journalists’ contracts with my client,’added Caplan.

Topics in this article : ,

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network