Previous convictions and suspended sentence against former RAC employee for theft of personal information

Two former RAC employees have been given suspended prison sentences and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work for unlawfully copying and selling over 29,500 lines of personal information.

Debbie Okparavero, 61, from Salford and Maliha Islam, 51, from Manchester, worked as customer service specialists at the RAC’s call center in Stretford. Their unlawful behavior was discovered by the ICO, the RAC, and reported to the ICO after it installed new security monitoring software.

The software showed that Okparavero had unlawfully accessed and copied personal data of people involved in traffic accidents. A subsequent search of Okaparavero’s cell phone revealed that the information was shared in a WhatsApp chat with Islam. News reports suggested that a third party paid for the information.

At a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court on October 8, 2024, Okparavero and Islam were given six-month prison sentences, a suspended sentence of 18 months and 150 hours of unpaid work each. Both defendants had previously pleaded guilty to offenses under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Prosecution costs will be considered at a proceeds of crime hearing scheduled for March 5, 2025.

Andy Curry, head of ICO investigations, said:

“Accessing people’s personal information when there is no business need to do so is against the law. Then taking action to profit from other people’s misfortune by selling that information is appalling. We will always take action to protect the public from this type of unlawful behavior.

“We would like to thank the RAC for quickly bringing this breach to our attention to ensure that justice is served.”

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