Data Protection Act breached by teachers' union
04/02/2010
A union for teachers and lecturers has acted in breach of the Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found.
The incident in question relates to a laptop and memory stick that were reported lost or stolen, which contained the personal details of more than 6,000 members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
A staff member owned the memory stick, which was not encrypted or password-protected, while the ATL-owned laptop was password-protected but not encrypted.
Both devices were either lost or stolen from the roadside as an ATL employee was loading his car.
ATL general secretary Mary Bousted has now signed an undertaking to ensure that by February 28th all portable and mobile devices used to store and transmit personal details are encrypted, while a review of data transfer procedures will also be carried out.
The ICO was recently in the headlines as it warned organisations that they face tougher sanctions if they fail to report information security breaches.
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