11/26/2010 9:52:38 AM
IT Security: DPA Fines Issued
Hertfordshire County Council is one of two bodies fined by the
Information Commissioner. The fine related to details of a child
sex abuse that were faxed to a member of the public and totalled
£100,000.
Meanwhiile, Sheffield-based A4e was fined £60,000 for losing an
unencrypted laptop containing the personal details of thousands of
people.
The Commissioner said that these fines, the first of their kind,
would "send a strong message" to those with data-handling
responsibilities.
Hertfordshire County Council's breaches occurred when staff in
their childcare litigation department sent two faxes to the wrong
people on two different occasions. The Council reported both
breaches to the Information Commissioner's Office.
The second fax, sent two weeks after the first, contained
information relating to the care proceedings of three children, the
previous convictions of the two individuals, domestic violence
records and staff's opinions on the cases.
A recent survey found that four out of five people want to see
the introduction of a law which would force companies to publicly
declare any data breaches. This kind of legislation currently
exists in the United States but in the UK, declaring is currently
voluntary. The survey was conducted for data management company
Logrhythm by Onepoll. Five thousand people were asked the
question.
Damian Hicklin
IT
Security & Communications Manager
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