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The NHS lost more personal details in this year’s first quarter than local and central government combined, almost making it as big a data loser as the entire private sector. Security breaches logged by the Information Commissioner show 140 in the Health Service since January, affirming it as the public sector’s main leak of personal data. A “cavalier attitude” of NHS workers to the exposure of sensitive records was to blame, the commissioner’s chief enforcer told a national paper, which saw his figures. In one case, the Information Commissioner’s Office found a GP downloaded details of 10,000 patients to an unsecured laptop, which was later stolen and remains missing. ICO officials also probed the dumping of old NHS computers, loaded with the names, addresses and medical notes of 2,500 people, which were stolen out of a skip. Even more embarrassing, and affecting double the number of patients, a memory stick was lost by the NHS while the password to unlock it was stated on an attached Post-It. Overall in the last six months, the ICO has taken action against 14 NHS bodies for having breached data protection regulations, The Independent reported. “There is a complete disconnect between the procedures laid down by managers and what happens on the ground,” the assistant information commissioner told the paper. Since his comments, the Department of Health has issued a reported plea to hospital mangers to stop data breaches by all levels of NHS personnel, including themselves. By the year-end, the ICO’s powers will be beefed up to include a substantial increase in the fines it can impose for non-compliance, in a move widely seen as long overdue. May 26, 2009 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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