A bank has been fined after repeatedly faxing customers' account details and payslips to the wrong recipients. Bank of Scotland, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, also sent bank statements, mortgage applications and contact details to the wrong people. The error, which went on for three years, has led to a £75,000 fine from the Information Commissioner. The bank apologised, blaming human error, but said the error only related to a fraction of the faxes it sent.

'Unforgiveable'
The mistake was first reported in February 2009, when a third party - that had a fax number one digit different from the intended recipient - started receiving documents in error. It received 21 documents, while a member of the public, whose fax number was also the same apart from one digit, received 10 documents.

Customers' names, addresses and contact details, as well as various other personal paperwork was sent. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that the bank was told on numerous occasions about the error, but mistakes continued, even when the ICO was investigating....Read more here