Walsall Council breached the Data Protection Act by accidentally dumping hundreds of local residents’ postal vote statements in a skip, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.
The statements – which were disposed of in March 2011 by an external contractor on the council’s behalf – included people’s names, addresses, dates of birth and signatures. Despite the council’s best efforts, 951 statements have not been recovered and are believed to have ended up in landfill or been destroyed.
The ICO found that the council did not have a contract in place with the organisation processing this personal information. The council also failed to provide their contractor with instructions on how the information should be kept secure, as required under the Act.
Simon Entwisle, Director of Operations at the Cheshire-based watchdog said: “While councils can hire contractors to process personal information on their behalf, they must remember that they are still ultimately responsible for ensuring people’s information is kept secure. Obviously little thought was given to this when the statements were disposed of in the skip. We are pleased that Walsall Council has now taken action to make sure that adequate security measures are put in place.”
Paul Sheehan, Chief Executive of Walsall Council, has now signed a formal undertaking to ensure that contracts are put in place with all suppliers hired to process personal data on the council’s behalf. The council will also make sure that sufficient guarantees are agreed with their suppliers and will carry out checks to make sure that their own data protection polices and information security procedures are being followed.
And separately, the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) breached the Data Protection Act by failing to keep sensitive information about the welfare of young people secure in two separate incidents, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.
The first incident happened in September last year when nine case files were mistakenly left in a filing cabinet which was removed as part of an office refurbishment. The cabinet was supposed to be destroyed but was instead sold on to a second-hand furniture shop with the files – containing names, dates of birth, social reports and referral decisions relating to children – still inside. The person who bought the cabinet discovered the files and they were returned to the organisation.
Four months later, in January 2011, a second breach occurred when legal papers containing sensitive information about a child’s court hearing were sent to the wrong email address. The documents included details relating to physical abuse and included the identities of the child’s mother and witnesses.
Both breaches were the result of the SCRA’s failure to make sure that the organisation’s existing data protection and IT security guidance were being correctly followed by their staff.
Ken Macdonald, Assistant Commissioner for Scotland said: “The fact that sensitive information was mishandled not once but twice by the same organisation is concerning. On both occasions the personal data which was compromised related to young children and was caused by human errors that could easily have been avoided. Luckily, on both occasions, the information was not circulated widely. I am pleased that the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration has taken action to make sure that the personal information they handle is kept secure and would urge other organisations, particularly those handling sensitive information relating to young people, to follow suit. We are also working with the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration to raise awareness of their data protection obligations amongst staff through a series of workshops.”
Neil Hunter, Chief Executive of Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration has signed an undertaking to ensure that staff are made aware of the organisation’s policies around the storage and use of personal data, and that sufficient checks are put in place to ensure the policy is followed. During office moves staff will also be made aware of other existing policies and procedures and monitored to check that they are being followed throughout the moving process.
