The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Verity Trustees Ltd to be in breach of the Data Protection Act after the Trustees reported the theft of a laptop computer containing the names, addresses, dates of birth, salaries and national insurance numbers of around 110,000 individuals.
The laptop, which also contained the bank details of around 18,000 individuals, was stolen from a locked server room at Northgate Arinso – suppliers of the TrusteesРІР‚в„ў computerised pensions administration system. The data was downloaded for training purposes in breach of Northgate ArinsoРІР‚в„ўs policy of only using an anonymised data sample for 50 to 100 pension scheme members.
A formal Undertaking has been signed by Verity Trustees Ltd to ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Verity Trustees Ltd will ensure portable and mobile devices used to store and transmit personal data are suitably encrypted. Adequate written contracts that encompass data security obligations will also be put in place with data processors as soon as is practically possible.
Mick Gorrill, Assistant Information Commissioner at the ICO, said: “This is a stark reminder of how easy it can be to put so many peopleРІР‚в„ўs details at risk. Failure to follow security policies and downloading such a vast amount of information has resulted in thousands of individualsРІР‚в„ў personal details being compromised. It is encouraging to see that the Trustees have taken remedial steps, including the engagement of a fraud protection service provider to protect the affected individuals.
I am also satisfied that the Trustees will now take appropriate steps to ensure individualsРІР‚в„ў details are protected.”
Failure to meet the terms of the Undertaking is likely to lead to enforcement action by the ICO. A copy of the Undertaking can be downloaded from http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/data_protection/enforcement.aspx
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Laptop with country's birth certificate information stolen November
Police are investigating the theft of a laptop that they fear could result in cases of identity theft. That's because the stolen computer belongs to the Government of Belize and was issued to the head of the Vital Statistics Unit, Lovina Daniels. It contains confidential birth certificate information for the entire country. Daniels had the laptop in her Toyota Corolla Car, which she parked inside the Princess Hotel and Casino compound on Thursday night at around nine o'clock. But someone broke into the vehicle and took the computer along with a cell phone and the keys to the Vital Statistics Office. No one has been detained but police are working around the clock to find the culprit before the information is used for criminal purposes.
