Leading construction firms were named and shamed by an official watchdog for unlawfully blacklisting trade union activists…Balfour Beatty was prominent on the list of 14 companies published today by the information commissioner, Christopher Graham…Graham ruled that the firms had broken data privacy laws and ordered them to stop using details from the database or gathering covert information…Six of the firms on the list are subsidiaries of Balfour Beatty. Others include Kier, Emcor, Whessoe, CB & I, and SIAS Building Services. Balfour Beatty and Emcor said they did not condone the use of "blacklists". Another firm, Shepherd Engineering Services, said it had stopped using [the blacklist] two years ago "following minimal historical use". NG Bailey said it would be "strengthening" its procedures to comply with data protection laws...Trade unionists criticised the information commissioner for failing to mount prosecutions