Wigan Council will take action to comply with the Data Protection
Act after it breached the law when the details of 43,000
children were downloaded to a laptop, which was later stolen.
The council has signed an
undertaking that holds it to take the necessary steps to comply
with the law.
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) said although the
laptop was stored in a locked office, the data on the device was
not protected as the laptop was not encrypted.
Sally-Anne Poole, head of enforcement at the ICO, said the
incident could have been averted if the data was simply accessed
from the main council computer network.
"Storing large volumes of personal information on portable
devices is unnecessarily risky."
Wigan Council has agreed to ensure that portable and mobile
devicesare encrypted, and staff will be trained and made aware of
the policy for the storage and use of personal data.