Great Yarmouth & Waveney Primary Care Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
1,000 records.

Why
Two desktop computers were stolen from premises with minimal security.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that portable media devices and laptops containing personal data are suitably encrypted and password protected. Physical security measures must be adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data. Staff must be made aware of and trained to follow the data controller’s policy for the storage or use of personal data.

Reason for action
The desktop computers were both unencrypted and without password protection. The data held on these computers should have been held on a network server. The premises where the computers were stored had no intruder alarm or security locks.

When
3 November 2009

Links
View PDF of the Great Yarmouth & Waveney Primary Care Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
A number of records.

Why
Three unencrypted USB memory sticks were lost or stolen over a period of several weeks between 28 May and 26 June 2009.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that portable media devices and laptops containing personal data are suitably encrypted. Physical security measures must be adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data. Staff must be made aware of and trained to follow the data controller’s policy for the storage or use of personal data.

Reason for action

The USB sticks were unencrypted and their loss was not formally reported to the data controller’s management until after the third incident in lane June 2009. The investigation into these incidents revealed a lack of understanding and awareness among staff of the requirements of data protection legislation. It was also revealed that staff had not received any formal data protection training.

When
20 October 2009

Links
View PDF of the Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
About 33 records.

Why
An unencrypted laptop was stolen from the Audiology Department. Three other encrypted laptops belonging to the data controller had also been stolen a month prior.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that within six months any personal data held on a laptop computer or any other removable media by the data controller is identified and encrypted.

Reason for action

Sensitive data was transferred to the memory stick in breach of Council procedure and was not password protected. The employee intended to use the data to work at home, but lost it during his commute.

When
16 October 2009

Links
View PDF of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Glouchestershire Primary Care Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
About 2,270 records.

Why
Six unencrypted desktop computers containing personal data relating to 2,270 patients were stolen from a locked office.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that portable media devices and laptops containing personal data are suitably encrypted. Physical security measures must be adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data. Staff must be made aware of and trained to follow the data controller’s policy for the storage or use of personal data.

Reason for action
The computers were password protected but not encrypted. The patient data should have been held on a local server rather than on the hard drives of the stolen computers.

When
15 October 2009

Links
View PDF of the Glouchestershire Primary Care Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
About three records.

Why
A member of the trust’s HR department saved a “Statement of Case” on a home computer in contravention of trust policy.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that physical security measures are adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data. The policy covering the storage and use of personal data must be followed by staff, especially when working from home. Trust policies must be amended to include explicit reference to staff data in terms of protecting personal information. Portable media devices must be suitably encrypted.

Reason for action
The information on the computer had not been password protected or encrypted. The Trust initially failed to demonstrate appropriate urgency in the securing of the data concerned.

When
2 October 2009

Links
View PDF of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Billing Pharmacy Limited

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
About 1,000 records.

Why
An unencrypted computer containing the personal data of around 1,000 patients was stolen.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that all portable media devices and computers used to store or transport personal data are suitably encrypted. A data protection policy must be drafted and all staff must be made aware of the data controller’s policy for the storage and use of personal data and be trained to follow it. Physical security measures must be adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data.

Reason for action
It was not possible to notify the patients affected by the theft as the data on the computer was not separately backed up. Further enquiries revealed that the data controller did not have in place appropriate policies and procedures with regards to data protection matters.

When
8 September 2009

Links
View PDF of the Billing Pharmacy Limited Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

NHS Grampian

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
About 1,700 records.

Why
Three separate incidents.

  • The inappropriate distribution of an email containing sensitive personal data relating to an individual.
  • Documents containing personal data of around 200 patients and staff were taken from a confidential waste bag.
  • An unencrypted laptop containing the personal data of over 1500 patients was stolen.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that all portable media devices used to store or transport personal data are suitably encrypted. Any personal data stored on portable devices must be backed up to the network server on a daily basis. Confirmation of success is to be obtained from the IT department and any failure corrected without delay. All staff must be made aware of the data controller’s policy for the storage and use of personal data and be trained to follow it. Physical security measures must be adequate to prevent unauthorised access to personal data.

Reason for action

  • A senior nursing manager distributing an email from another senior manager to over 50 other staff without first consulting either the sender of the data controller’s Information Governance Manager.
  • Documents were removed from a confidential waste bag held at a nursing station on the labour ward and sent to the data controller’s Chief Executive, claiming they’d been found in a skip. Investigations revealed that access to this waste could have been gained by staff, patients and even visitors. Many staff were unaware of the correct policies for disposing of sensitive waste.
  • An unencrypted laptop containing the entire database of patients suffering from a particular disease was stolen from a locked office. The laptop had not been successfully backed up to the data controller’s network server in the month prior to the theft, meaning that a small amount of this data was only stored on the laptop.
  • Finally the enquiries into these incidents revealed that certain staff were using home computers for work-related tasks involving personal data and then transferring that work via unencrypted USB sticks, in breach of the data controller’s policies and procedures.

When
3 September 2009

Links
View PDF of the NHS Grampian Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Ipswitch Hospital NHS Trust

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
30 records.

Why
A ward handover sheet was found outside the data controller’s premises. This was the second time inside a year that such an incident had been reported to the Commissioner.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that all staff are made aware of the data controller’s policy for the storage and use of personal data and be trained to follow it.

Reason for action
Following the incident in 2008 recommendations had been made to minimise the risk of such documents going astray, including instructions to dispose of these in confidential waste and never to remove them from Trust premises, but it was clear that these had not been adhered to by staff.

When
25 August 2009

Links
View PDF of the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

Wigan Council

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
43,000 records.

Why
An unencrypted laptop was stolen from a locked office.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that all mobile data storage devices are sufficiently encrypted. All staff must be made aware of the data controller’s policy for the storage of personal data and be trained to follow it.

Reason for action
The personal data contained on the unencrypted laptop was downloaded onto it in breach of Council policy.

When
18 August 2009

Links
View PDF of the Wigan Council Limited Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)

NHS Education for Scotland

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What
Loss of sensitive personal data.

How much
6,377 records.

Why
An unencrypted laptop containing the personal data of 6,377 individuals was stolen from a locked office.

Regulator
ICO

Regulatory action
Undertaking issued to ensure that all mobile data storage devices are sufficiently encrypted. All staff must be made aware of the data controller’s policy for the storage of personal data and be trained to follow it.

Reason for action
The laptop was not encrypted as it not intended to taken off NES premises and was therefore not considered a “mobile device” under NES internal policy at the time.

When
14 August 2009

Links
View PDF of the NHS Education for Scotland Undertaking (Breach Watch Archive)