More than half of London borough councils lost citizens'
personal data last year, the BBC reported yesterday.
Radio Five
Live's Donal MacIntyre reported on Sunday that several data
breaches happened while the people holding the documents were in
pubs.
The BBC reported that 23 councils replied to the freedom of
information request. More than half said data had been lost, stolen
or inadvertently disclosed.
In one case, sensitive information about children in care was
stolen when a youth worker took files into a bar. In another, files
containing court reports and a review of a statement of special
educational needs were stolen from a social worker's bag while they
were in a pub.
In another, thieves stole a notebook with the names and
addresses of 12 young people in care from a youth worker while he
was in a bar after work.
The survey also found in October 2007 thieves stole 375 student
files, including copies of their birth certificates and parents'
P60 annual tax statements, before they could be destroyed.
The new
Local Government Chief Information Officer Council is working
with the Local Government
Association and the
Society
of Information Technology Management (Socitim) on new
guidelines for data protection.