George Kidd , the chief commissioner of The Direct Marketing Commission , said it would be investigating two firms . Two firms exposed by the Daily Mail as selling private information are to be probed by the industry watchdog . B2C Data sold our undercover reporters the financial data of 15,000 people – including details about their pension pots , incomes and investments . The second firm – Data Bubble – supplied our team with health details on 3,000 patients – such as whether they suffered from high blood pressure , arthritis or even bladder problems . The Direct Marketing Commission said it would probe both companies over claims that they had breached the rules on the sale of private data . It confirmed it was ‘ formally investigating two companies following allegations in the Daily Mail that personal data was shared inappropriately and without the consent of users ’ . George Kidd , the chief commissioner , said : ‘ The allegations in the Daily Mail are serious . People must be able to trust those with whom they share their data . We will look carefully at the roles and conduct of these two companies and advise the Direct Marketing Association on our findings quickly. ’ The firms are already at the centre of a major probe by the Information Commissioner ’ s Office , which said the sale of such details was ‘ on the face of it , a very serious breach of the Data Protection Act ’ . In meetings covertly filmed by our reporters , bosses at B2C Data were seen boasting of how they held thousands of details on every family in Britain . One , Gareth Doran , boasted : ‘ We know what clothes they buy , what health products they buy , where they go on holiday , how many times they go on holiday , what income they ’ ve got , whether they have children. ’ Data Bubble bosses offered to provide our reporters with the names of people with ‘ different ailments ’ for around 16p each . When asked how the information was obtained , the firm ’ s owner , hypnotherapist Joanne Clayton , said : ‘ It could be people who bought mobility products from a catalogue … or even if they ’ ve been on holiday and they ’ ve ticked to say that they are needing help on the flight with regards to that , we can then identify that they actually have problems with mobility. ’ Data Bubble owner Joanne Clayton , pictured , said that they obtained information from people who brought products in a mobility catalogue . Both companies sold the records despite not carrying out checks on the Mail ’ s bogus cold calling firm . Had they done so they would have quickly discovered it was simply a website and was not registered or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority . The announcement follows calls – led by David Cameron – for a clampdown on companies found guilty of selling personal data without consent . The Prime Minister suggested on Monday night that the law would be tightened if loopholes were being exploited by unscrupulous cold callers .
The Direct Marketing Commission probing B2C Data and Data Bubble . Score: 6