Public Sector Urged to Take Better Care of Confidential Data

Public Sector Urged to Take Better CarePublic Sector Urged to Take Better Care of Confidential Data PR Newswire LONDON, December 9, 2013 • At least 26,000 personal records have been exposed to ID fraud this year • Patient confidentiality at risk as medical records continue to be treated with negligence • Shred-it identifies 2013's worst culprits in data security Data security blunders are putting NHS patients and local government taxpayers at risk of identity fraud, according to a new compilation of some of the worst culprits in data security released by information security experts, Shred-it, today. Despite receiving fines in excess of £1.1m in the last 12 months, public sector organisations are still not doing enough to ensure staff and managers understand and implement information security policies that keep the information they hold on members of the public safe. Information security experts at Shred-it have compiled a list of seven of the worst data protection mistakes which exposed personal data on at least 26,000 people. Among the worst offenders listed is University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff where a pile of patient records were dumped on top of a shredding bin in a corridor, exposed for anyone to handle. "The public sector is guilty of serious failings in the way it is looking after people's confidential and personal information.