MacRoberts Technology Media & Communications e-update 23/07/10

LACK OF DP TRAINING LEADS TO PUBLIC REBUKE... NEXT TIME A £500K FINE?

Three UK councils - London Borough of Barnet Council, West Sussex County Council and Buckinghamshire County Council - have come under fire from the Information Commissioner's Office regarding their lack of staff training on data protection.

The poor training resulted in sensitive personal data on thousands of children being lost or stolen. The incidents in question were as follows: an employee had an unencrypted laptop containing sensitive data on children and their families stolen from their home; an employee downloaded sensitive data on 9,000 children and their families onto an unencrypted, non password protected USB stick which was then stolen from their home; and a council social worker lost documents relating to 2 children which were being carried in a plastic wallet.

All councils have now signed formal undertakings, with the Information Commissioner's Office, that they will ensure staff are made fully aware of their policies regarding storage and use of personal data.

It is essential for all companies and organisations to appreciate the importance of not only implementing data protection policies but also communicating them to staff and conducting regular staff training. Non-compliance with data protection laws could potentially cost you £500,000 in penalties and could also result in court actions where the disclosure of the data has caused damage to the individuals concerned.

MacRoberts is one of the most experienced providers of UK-wide in-house legal management training, and offers practical and effective training on the key areas of data protection.

For further information, please contact David Flint or Valerie Surgenor on 0141 303 1100.

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