"I heard the data has been stolen, or leaked ..."

A complicated issue, as you might expect. TrailWise's predecessor 'Wayfinder' system was developed over a number of years for GLASS members and others, mostly by one individual. It was loaded with contributions of information, mostly by GLASS and TRF members, and also contained some personal details (e.g. name and address) of its users.

In 2005, there was a "parting of the ways" between GLASS and the principle Wayfinder developer. GLASS continued to operate Wayfinder, for the benefit of the same users.

The individual had access to a complete copy of the system (including all current data), naturally enough as principle developer. As creator of the program he was quite entitled to set up another copy of the program, and this he did. GLASS's position (as custodian of the data) is that this gave him no rights to use the information loaded by others, and absolutely no right to hold other's personal details. The issues get even more clouded as the individual has since passed control of the copy site to a Limited Company, including the personal information. In essence, that company is handling stolen property; the original contributors efforts up to 2005.

GLASS has reported what it believes are infringements of the Data Protection Act to the Information Commissioner's office. The ICO's eventual response was that this is a 'commercial issue', since the nature of the information is unlikely to cause personal loss or embarassment. In conclusion, GLASS believes that persuing this through legal action would not in the end benefit anyone, except lawyers!

This does not prevent any past users of Wayfinder who feel their information or work has been misappropriated from complaining in person to the ICO at www.ico.gov.uk