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Personal details on stolen laptop
SHEFFIELD employment firm A4e has been hit with a £60,000 fine after the theft of a laptop containing the personal details of 24,000 people.
The Information Commissioner imposed the country's first ever financial penalty for a serious breach of the Data Protection Act after the loss of the unencrypted computer in a burglary.
It contained full names, dates of birth, postcodes, employment status, income level, information about alleged criminal activity, and whether an individual had been a victim of violence.
The data related to 24,000 people who had used community legal advice centres in Hull and Leicester. An unsuccessful attempt was made to access the data shortly after the theft in June.
A4e reported the incident to the Information Commissioner's Office, and the firm also notified the people whose data could have been accessed.
The Commissioner ordered it to pay a 60,000 fine, stating access to the data could have caused substantial distress.
A4e also did not take reasonable steps to avoid the loss of the data when it issued the employee with an unencrypted laptop, despite knowing the amount and type of data that would be processed on it.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: "Thousands of people's privacy was potentially compromised by the company's failure to take the simple step of encrypting the data."
A4e chief executive Andrew Dutton said the employee involved has since been moved to another part of the company."
He added: "We acted very swiftly after the incident in June, including making a voluntary report to the ICO. We alerted all customers, partners and relevant authorities affected and continue to update them. This incident occurred as a result of a breach of our security procedures. It also came at a time when A4e was rolling out a new, robust, company-wide set of security controls and procedures.
"We have apologised for any distress caused to those involved in this one-off incident and we do so again."
Hertfordshire County Council was also fined after council employees faxed sensitive information about a child sex abuse case to the wrong recipients.
Mr 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. You could also be fined up to 500,000."
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