ThePensions Trusthas reported loss of personal
information on up to 109,000 charity workers to the Information
Commissioner's Office following the theft of a laptop containing
confidential data from the Marlow office of its software suppliers,
NorthgateArinso.
Lynda Howe, chair of Verity Trustees, said, "NorthgateArinso has
expressed their regret that this theft has occurred and
investigations are ongoing. I can confirm that The Pensions Trust
has now withdrawn access to personal member data from
NorthgateArinso and have also instructed them to delete any
existing personal member data they hold.
"We are hopeful that this incident will not have any impact on
members but, as a precaution, we have arranged for them to be
protected by CIFAS [the UK's fraud prevention service] and have set
up a members' help line."
"NorthgateArinso has assured us that the data was
password-protected and as such, not easily accessible," the
Pensions Trust board said in a statement.
Northgate
provides pension administration software and outsourcing to
organisations including Boots and the Daily Mail. The company said,
"NorthgateArinso is working closely with The Pensions Trust and
with the police in their ongoing investigations. We immediately
instituted an internal investigation and have hired independent
specialists to carry out a review."