Legal Updates - Council Fined

Data Protection – Monetary Penalty – North East Lincolnshire Council – Data Protection Act 1998 – Breach – Sensitive Personal Data

The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) recently imposed a monetary penalty of £80,000 on North East Lincolnshire Council for a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”).

The breach resulted in the loss of sensitive personal information of hundreds of children who attended local schools, including information about their special educational needs. The details were contained on an unencrypted memory stick, which had been left connected to a laptop at the council’s offices in 2011.

Further details on this can be found at the ICO’s website.

How can we help?

Whether you are a start up or an established business, RT Coopers can assist you in meeting your obligations under the Data Protection Act. We conduct audits  on businesses’ operations in order to determine specific weaknesses to be considered by data controllers. Once these are identified, we would advise you on the remedial measures you should put in place.

You may contact us by email [email protected]. Visit http://www.rtcoopers.com/practice_dataprotection.php

© RT COOPERS, 2013. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.