The Amicus group of Labour MEPs will table plans today at the Employment and Social Affairs committee for Euro regulation to prevent unauthorised access of personal details being processed abroad.
The move comes after US credit card giant Capital One pulled out of India after unauthorised credit levels were offered to customers by Indian call centre operators. The Evening Standard has also reported that organised gangs are offering a year's wages to call centre staff in return for access to US and UK credit card details.
A recent report by Ernst &Young predicts that "Given the volume of offshoring that is going on and the risks attached, there will be a major regulatory failing within five years"
European firms are severely restricted in terms of the Data Protection Directive of 1995 as to what data can be transferred or stored in countries without equivalent rules and enforcement procedures. At present, India has no such regulations, and relies on individual contracts negotiated between the main company and the Indian outsourcing contractor to address the data protection issues.
Amicus is predicting that 200,000 UK call centre and business services jobs will be exported from the UK by 2008 which will mean every banking and personal finance customer will be forced to allow their details out of the UK.
Amicus will tell the Employment and Social Affairs Committee that an enlarged Europe must toughen up the data protection and force companies that operate in India to tell customers where they are calling from.
David Fleming, Amicus National Secretary for Finance, said:
"Offshoring is an accident waiting to happen. It is only a matter of time before a serious crime is committed which ruin [sic] the reputation of the British financial services industry."
"The business case that says that offshoring is the way forward for the UK economy has not been proven. How can it be when there is no indication that those companies who have gone overseas have done anything to protect the white collar communities being left behind?"