Zarah Sultana's Your Party membership launch may have been a serious criminal act

The Information Commissioner’s Office advised Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project to consider referring the unauthorised Your Party membership launch to Report Fraud or the police, saying serious criminal activity may have occurred. The ICO also assessed that formal ICO involvement was not required at this time.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has advised that Zarah Sultana’s unauthorised launch of a Your Party membership portal may amount to a serious criminal act. Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project referred the matter to the ICO last September over a potential data breach. The ICO told the PJP it was not opening a formal ICO investigation at this stage and recommended considering referral to Report Fraud and the police. Key facts: - The ICO advised the Peace and Justice Project to consider reporting the unauthorised Your Party membership launch to Report Fraud and the police, noting that "serious criminal activity may have occurred." - The ICO assessed that formal ICO involvement was not required at this time. - Zarah Sultana said the ICO had "dropped the case around the Your Party membership portal" and posted that she looked forward to campaigning in the party’s forthcoming leadership contest. Summary: The ICO’s guidance leaves potential criminal investigation to police or Report Fraud while it does not itself open a formal case at this time. Any police inquiry would take precedence over an ICO action. Undetermined at this time.