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ICO deals out £160,000 in data breach fines

The ICO has used its fining powers for the first time, reprimanding a local council and an employment services firm.

By Tom Brewster, 24 Nov 2010 at 11:20

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has dealt out its first fines since it was handed additional powers in April.

The data protection watchdog has been under increasing scrutiny in recent months, with some suggesting it had not gone far enough to impose its authority, particularly in the Google Street View case.

Today the ICO announced a £100,000 penalty was handed to Hertfordshire County Council, whilst employment services company A4e was hit with a £60,000 fine.

According to the watchdog, the council was reprimanded for two serious incidents when employees faxed highly sensitive personal information to the wrong recipients.

In one case, details relating to child sex abuse meant to go to barristers’ chambers were sent to a member of the public. The other misdirected fax covered details of care proceedings.

“It is difficult to imagine information more sensitive than that relating to a child sex abuse case,” said information commissioner Christopher Graham.

“I am concerned at this breach - not least because the local authority allowed it to happen twice within two weeks.”

A4e had an unencrypted laptop stolen, which contained personal data on 24,000 people who had used community legal advice centres in Hull and Leicester.

There was an unsuccessful attempt to access the data on the laptop after it was stolen

“The laptop theft, while less shocking, also warranted nothing less than a monetary penalty as thousands of people’s privacy was potentially compromised by the company’s failure to take the simple step of encrypting the data,” Graham added.

“These first monetary penalties send a strong message to all organisations handling personal information. Get it wrong and you do substantial harm to individuals and the reputation of your business.”

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2 comments

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A sad day for information security

Resorting to punitive measures, such as fines, represents a sad day in the history of information security. Alas, the repeated examples of lax corporate and public sector security awareness and compliance have made it an unfortunate necessity.

The sizable fines the Information Commissioner’s Office can impose, as demonstrated in these cases, will hopefully deter organisations of all types from falling behind on data security.

However, if past instances of data loss and theft teach us anything, it is that regulation alone will not solve the problem. Such measures must be aligned with an overall government effort to encourage and build a culture of security best practice and common sense, underpinned by solid technologies that can deliver the level of security required by law and be able to cope with emerging threats and the changing ways in which we work.

Kurt Johnson, vice president of corporate strategy and development at Courion

By Ip_courion3a5e03 on Wednesday Nov 24

The ICO flexes its muscles

As the ICO finally seems to be toughening up http://bit.ly/gA5jfs it raises questions about how the fines are applied. Whilst it is disappointing that Google could not be fined as the offence occured before the ICO could implement stronger penalties, to hear of local councils receiving large fines is also concerning for the public. A balance surely needs to be met, potentially basing the fine not only on the size of the breach, but also of the organisation at fault. It remains to be seen how much these fines will act as a deterrant.

By MSC_247 on Wednesday Nov 24