The Government data loss thread

[llondel]

The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration didn't empty a filing cabinet before disposing of it...

From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09...data_breaches/

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has found that the organisation which investigates the care of Scotland's most vulnerable children had twice failed to protect sensitive child welfare information.

In January 2011 the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) sent legal papers containing sensitive information about a child's court hearing to the wrong email address, the watchdog said.

The electronic documents included details relating to physical abuse and included the identities of the child's mother and witnesses.

Four months earlier, in September 2010, the SCRA had left nine case files in a filing cabinet when it was removed as part of an office refurbishment.

The files contained names, dates of birth, social reports and referral decisions relating to children.

Although the cabinet was supposed to have been destroyed, it was sold on to a second-hand furniture shop with the files still inside.

[Diane]

Obviously they care so much about children that they leave the youngsters' details lying around for anyone to get hold of.

And we pay these people?

Diane

[Ali Admin]

Council lost memory stick containing 18,000 residents’ details

Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council breached the Data Protection Act by losing an unencrypted memory stick containing the details of over 18,000 residents, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today.

Acting Head of Enforcement, Sally Anne Poole said (among other things):

“Luckily, the information stored on the device was not sensitive and much of it is publicly available. Therefore, the incident is unlikely to have caused substantial distress to local people."

[Elaine Kirk]

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Can I say that I so want to slap these people who treat our right to privacy with such disdain? Oh I just did

[Mickey]

And of course GIRFEC gives them even more information to lose

[Elaine Kirk]

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from the BBC
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A health trust has started an inquiry after the personal details of 47 Cambridgeshire primary school children were lost.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust said paperwork including names, addresses, NHS numbers and dates of birth had gone missing.

The information belonged to reception class pupils at Paston Ridings Primary School, in Peterborough.

It was sent using an "internal post" system, the trust said.

The missing paperwork also contained details of the children's doctors and school.

Some of the affected 47 pupils could be aged as young as four...more....

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[Ali Admin]

Laptop containing thousands of customers’ bank details stolen from Glasgow City Council

Glasgow City Council (GCC) is to write to 37,835 customers after two laptops were taken during an office break-in late last month.

Bank account details of 16,451 customers were stored on one of the devices, while data loss for the remaining 21,384 customers remains limited to names and addresses. Suppliers, people receiving winter fuel payments and individuals in receipt of care grants all stand to be affected.

A council spokesman said: “We are in the process of writing to the people affected by this theft to alert them to the data loss and offer them advice about what steps they might need to take.

“We’ve also provided them with a phone number they can use to contact us if they have any questions.

[Ali Admin]

NHS Tayside launches urgent investigation after medical records found dumped in street

Private and confidential NHS hospital patient notes have been found dumped in a bin recess in Dundee.

The papers give potentially embarrassing details of debilitating personal or mental health issues, while some of the information states who the patients live with and in what type of accommodation.

The patients' ages range from 40 to 93.

The documents were found by a concerned tenant at a block of flats and businesses in the West Port area of the city.

A spokesman for NHS Tayside said:

'We take patient confidentiality and the safeguarding of patient information very seriously and therefore we have already taken steps to reinforce the requirement for all staff to always be alert to the importance of keeping patient information secure and confidential.'

Oh really?

NHS Tayside came under heavy criticism in 2008 when personal files relating to vulnerable children were found in a derelict area at Strathmartine Hospital.

Questions were raised at Holyrood and there were calls for resignations after files containing the personal histories of children lay discarded for months at the hospital, which closed in 2003.

[Elaine Kirk]

Your family's data has been stolen, sorry...

From the bbc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-fife-19623038
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An investigation has been launched after a laptop containing details on Edinburgh children was stolen from a fostering and adoption panel member.
The machine was stolen from the home of an independent consultant in August. The computer contained a number of minutes from meetings of these panels.

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