Personal
data has been lost by 132 councils in the past three years, with some of that information being
found on Facebook, according to reports.
A
freedom of information (FOI) request by Big Brother Watch (BBW) found 1,035 cases of data loss
between August 2008 and August 2011. The report said Buckinghamshire and Kent councils experienced
the greatest data loss, with scanned case notes from Kent Council ending up on
Facebook.
Nick
Pickles, BBW director, told
the BBCthat
only 55 incidents were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The FOI showed a
“shockingly lax attitude” to protection
of confidential informationby
some councils, he said.
"The
fact that only a tiny fraction of staff have been dismissed brings into question how seriously
managers take protecting the privacy of their service users and local residents,” added
Pickles.
"Despite
having access to increasing amounts of data and being responsible for even more services, local
authorities are simply not able to say our personal information is safe with them."
The
information showed data relating to more than 3,000 children and young people was compromised. In
Birmingham, a lost USB stick contained personal data about 64,000 tenants.
In
total, 244 laptops, 98 memory sticks and 93 mobile devices went missing.
The
ICO revealed
yesterdaythat
Southwark
Councilescaped
a fine after discarding personal data relating to more than 7,000 people in a skip for 18
months.
Privacy and data protecti
More than 100 local councils lost personal data, finds report
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