North Lanarkshire support worker had vulnerable residents details stolen

A council breached the Data Protection Act after a home support worker’s bag was stolen containing papers which included sensitive personal information, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today.

North Lanarkshire Council alerted the ICO to the data breach shortly after the theft in October 2010.

The bag – which was not locked – contained the worker’s visiting schedule for the next two days. The schedule included information relating to the mental or physical health of six vulnerable adults who were being supported by the council’s housing and social work services department.

The ICO’s enquiries found that the guidance provided by the council to its home support workers on the storage and disposal of personal information outside of the office, was inadequate.

Assistant Commissioner for Scotland, Ken Macdonald said: “Organisations have a responsibility to make sure that any personal information used by their workers outside of the office remains secure. It is never acceptable for papers containing sensitive personal information to be left in an unlocked bag without necessary precautions. The council’s guidance on the handling of this type of information was inadequate and failed to advise staff on the best means of keeping information safe.

“We are pleased that North Lanarkshire Council has taken action to ensure that its service users’ personal information will be better protected in the future.”

Gavin Whitefield, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Council, has now signed an undertaking to ensure that the council has adequate policies and procedures on the storage, use and disposal of hard copy personal information in place.  

A full copy of the undertaking can be viewed here:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/promoting_data_privacy/taking_action.aspx#undertakings