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Information Commissioner Warns of Breaches in Data Protection RulesThe Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has revealed in his annual report that a “horrifying” number of organisations including many large high street banks, retailers and government offices have admitted serious security lapses concerning employees’ and customers’ personal data.
Within the past year, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found 12 high street banks guilty of discarding customers’ personal details in unsecured bins outside their premises. It also found that one of the top four mobile phone companies had allowed staff to share log-ins, which potentially means that customer information has been accessed by unauthorised staff.
Nearly 24,000 enquiries and complaints concerning personal information issues were received by the ICO in 2006-07, and it considered that a breach may have occurred in 35% of cases.
The annual report by Richard Thomas has highlighted the need for all organisations to consider the risk of information falling into the wrong hands, and with ID Fraud costing the UK an estimated £1.7 billion per year, this needs to be addressed at the highest level. The breaches in security are detrimental to consumers’ and stakeholders’ confidence, and the businesses themselves.
All businesses that keep personal information on both staff and customers need to ensure that their confidential waste is disposed of in a manner compliant with the Data Protection Act, using an authorised disposal company.
PHS Datashred provides authorised professional shredding services and was one of the first companies to achieve BS 8470, the British Standard for security shredding launched in June 2006 in response to both customer and industry concerns. The company’s certificate of destruction and full audit trail gives customers confidence that their confidential material has been rendered beyond use and dealt with securely from ‘cradle to grave’. PHS Datashred is a founder member of the British Security Industry Association’s Information Destruction Division, with the BSIA the trade association for the secure destruction industry, which plays the leading role in developing and promoting the very highest professional standards when dealing with confidential information.
The ICO is an independent body set up to promote public access to official information and to protect personal information.
As the secure destruction division of the PHS Group, PHS Datashred is committed to helping its customers protect their business sensitive information. Alongside our wide range of secure disposal services, we also offer advice and support to ensure our customers' information security, and legal compliance with the Data Protection Act.
