The Mail on Sunday reported yesterday that its undercover reporters were sold 15,000 retirees’ salary, investments and pension size information without any checks being made on the reporters’ backgrounds.

As a result, the ICO has pledged that it will investigate the allegations, and consult with the UK Pensions Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority and police to determine whether the data providers breached the Data Protection Act and/or regulations governing privacy and electronic communications, and establish if the information was procured illegally.

Commenting on the exposé, ICO head of enforcement Steve Eckersley, said the Mail report was “very worrying indeed”.

“It suggests a disregard of laws that are in place specifically to protect consumers. We’re aware of allegations raised against several companies involved in the cold-calling sector. The ICO has powers to issue companies with fines of up to £500,000 for the most serious breaches of the Data Protection Act, while we can also pursue criminal prosecutions around unlawfully obtaining or accessing personal data.”

While urging retirees to read the terms and conditions of contracts they sign to ensure they are not unwittingly signing away their data privacy, Eckersley acknowledged that most data being bought and sold would likely have been obtained illegally – whether via outright theft, or unauthorised retention.

“We’re already aware of the potential for a huge spike in the number of scam texts and calls linked to pensions when the law changes in April, and have already taken action against a company that was sending out misleading messages,” concluded Eckersley. “What we’ve seen here confirms those fears. Personal data is such a valuable asset, particularly financial information. The worst case scenario here is this information getting into the wrong hands and being used to target individuals at a critical point in their financial lives.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Rachel Reeves said the revelations were “shocking”, and “further evidence of the government’s total failure to protect the 300,000 savers who could start accessing their pensions in just over a week’s time.”

“Ministers must now act quickly to protect savers from these serious threats to people’s hard earned retirement income,” she concluded.