“Unlike in the USA, the UK has been very slow to get to grips with the importance of the protection of data; with many companies and organisations simply giving the issue lip service” says Tankard.  “Just consider the number of times we have heard of government departments, for example, loose data – usually in transit, on laptops or similar” he adds.

Tankard believes this is because heavy fines and prison sentences are not usual in the UK unlike the States where we have recently seen the man accused of hacking into some 90 million credit and debit card numbers from TJ Maxx, together with other retailers, given a 20 year prison sentence.

And now the NHS are implementing the centralisation of medical information onto a Summary Care Record to be held centrally.  A move already highlighted as worrying by the report issued by Big Brother Watch claiming that on average 723 non-medical staff in every NHS Trust have direct access to private health records.

“Anyone responsible for the care, handling and storage of digital data needs to wake up and smell the coffee’’ says Tankard.  “ Robust protection including encryption and user access systems must be employed and then continually managed.

“Already the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced its intentions to impose a  £500,000 fine for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.  It is only a matter of time for us to find ourselves following the example of the US when, if data security has not been adequately addressed, company directors may well find themselves in a court of law!”

Ends

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