Title

Thousands of council staff were left vulnerable after three recent security lapses saw confidential information disappear. Almost 7,000 Torbay Council workers were affected when a CD posted out to the Audit Commission failed to arrive. The information on the CD, which was sent out unsuccessfully twice in December 2006, contained employee's names, addresses, salary and banking details. Elizabeth Raikes, Torbay's chief executive, said she was aware of the anxiety staff would have been caused and a helpline had been launched. ‘As soon as the council was made aware of the situation, an internal investigation was undertaken, which has resulted in an officer being suspended pending disciplinary action,' she explained. ‘We have also reviewed our internal processes to ensure that an incident of this kind cannot occur in future.' Last month, a laptop owned by Serco, one of Worcestershire CC's IT suppliers, was stolen in a street robbery. The laptop contained sensitive information relating to some members of staff. A cabinet meeting to discuss the investigation into the ‘regrettable and wholly-avoidable incident' revealed that around 39% of staff or former staff had been affected, and an employee of Serco was to blame. The company has apologised unreservedly to the council and staff. In a third security breach, an officer from Perth and Kinross Council lost a USB memory stick which was found by a member of the public and handed in to a local newspaper. The council described the incident as an ‘unfortunate accident'. A spokesman said: ‘The device contained some historical information, but much of the documentation was on the device in order to assist the owner in preparing some draft material for the new business management-improvement plan.'

Title

Security slip-ups put council staff privacy at risk

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING