Potential victims ‘kept in dark’ over hacking

Bosses at Vodafone and Orange/T-Mobile have admitted they did not contact customers because they were awaiting instructions from police.

They told a committee of MPs how they isolated lists of people thought to have been targeted but did not contact them amid fears of prejudicing the Scotland Yard investigation. The lists were instead passed on to investigators.

James Blendis, vice president of legal affairs at Everything Everywhere, which runs Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, said there had been a “conflict” between letting customers know and not interfering with police.

“We didn’t contact our customers, that could prejudice the investigation and we didn’t want to do that,” he told the all-party Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday.

Chairman Keith Vaz asked whether this could be perceived as a “complacent attitude”.

Mr Blendis responded: “We respond to our obligations to the police. We hand them our records.”

Between Vodafone, Orange/T-Mobile and 02, more than 120 people were identified as potential victims.

Representatives from 02 said they had informed customers after being told of the breaches in 2009.

Adrian Gorham, head of fraud and security at 02, added: “At the time, the industry was not aware of the problems. It came as a complete surprise to the companies that this was happening.”

Vodafone chiefs wrote to customers in general to remind them of the importance of voicemail security.

But the network’s head of fraud and security, Julie Steele, told MPs: “We worked closely with the Metropolitan Police and, as in all cases, so as not to jeopardise the police inquiry, we did not contact our customers directly.”

The hearing was staged days after it emerged former home secretary Jack Straw and former Labour cabinet colleague Lord Mandelson contacted Scotland Yard after fresh allegations that private investigators committed breaches of privacy.

Scotland Yard has assigned officers to consider the latest allegations, it was confirmed.