Hello, based in England here!
Trying to maintain anonymity on the off chance anyone working for the same company browses this sub! apologies if anything is a little too vague.
Employed for more than 5 years with the business, in this role for a number of years, and want to check the legalities and whether/how to whistleblow without repercussions.
I have been assigned a task that involves logging in to a direct competitors website to gather data (think product details, pricing, reporting any new features on the site etc. The data gathered is used to shape our approach to selling our products to our customers). The average consumer cannot access this website and see these details as the competitor sells B2B and not B2C so it would be considered somewhat exclusive – and the account we use is for a legitimate customer of this competitor, it isn't one of our own. Just log in details that have been passed around from person, to person, to person. I do not know how we acquired them.
The thought of Competition Laws has come to mind, however in refusing to do this specific task, the business passes it on to the next person. To add to matters, I have agreed and completed these tasks in the past (rather stupidly, I know) so already worry I could face some legal issues if I do report it.
Ideally I would like stop this practice altogether as I am sure it is considered illegal but I would like to check. Not only would my employer face repercussions if the business was caught but I am sure it could land me in serious trouble with the law too.
We have an external Whistleblowing platform that promotes anonymity. I worry that it may be obvious who has whistleblown and have me facing potential retaliation from my employer if I go ahead and report. I have really gotten myself into quite the mess here so some advice would be greatly appreciated!