A former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) worker who blew the whistle on lax data protection practices at the bank faces storing sensitive information under her bed indefinitely as a second regulator says it can’t help her.
The bank, now part of NatWest Group, alleges the whistleblower has “sought payment” in exchange for the data, which she vehemently denies.
The details of about 1,600 RBS customers remain in her home after a decade-long dispute gets no nearer resolution, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) joining the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in turning down the whistleblower’s call for help.
The former worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been fighting to get the bank to agree to the return of the paper-based customer files, which she had in her home when working remotely between 2006 and 2009. She wants a guarantee in writing that if any of the data is misused there will be no repercussions on her, which the bank has given verbally but not in writing.
In 2006, the data was sent to the worker’s home as part of a home working arrangement – in breach of data protection rules. The worker was given the opportunity to work from home and, on the bank’s instructions, used customer banking information to help her generate mortgage and loans business. Over three years, she received thousands of paper documents.
After an investigation in 2012, the ICO slapped the bank’s wrists over the arrangement and advised the former employee on the safe return of the...
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