FSA fines HSBC units £3m for ‘careless’ handling of confidential data – The Times

Posted July 23rd, 2009 in banking, data protection, fines, news by sally

“HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, has been fined more than £3 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for the ‘careless’ handling of confidential details of tens of thousands of its customers.”

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The Times, 23rd July 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Council punished over theft of laptops from locked room – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 23rd, 2009 in data protection, encryption, news by sally

“Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has taken action against a local authority which lost two laptop computers despite the fact that they were stored in a locked office and password-protected.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 23rd July 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Information Commissioner enjoys new powers to fine from April 2010 – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 22nd, 2009 in data protection, fines, news, privacy by sally

“Privacy regulator the Information Commissioner will be handed new powers to issue fines next April. The Commissioner’s office has confirmed for the first time the date on which it will be able to hand out new fines.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd July 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

* News * Politics * DNA database DNA database plans based on ‘flawed science’, warn experts – The Guardian

Posted July 20th, 2009 in data protection, DNA, human rights, news by sally

“‘Flawed scientific thinking’ in the government’s proposed changes to the DNA database will leave it open to further challenges by the courts, experts have said, in a stark attack on Home Office plans to overhaul the current system.”

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The Guardian, 19th July 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Hospitals criticised over losses of sensitive patient information – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 16th, 2009 in data protection, hospitals, news by sally

“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has reprimanded five English NHS trusts over lax data protection regimes that resulted in the loss of 20,000 people’s personal data and the leaving of patients’ notes on a bus.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 15th July 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Police fight data deletion ruling – BBC News

Posted June 23rd, 2009 in criminal records, data protection, news, police by sally

“Data about the criminal convictions of one million people could be deleted from police computers, the Court of Appeal has been told.”

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BBC News, 22nd June 2009

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Government surveillance response ‘inadequate’, say Lords – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 23rd, 2009 in data protection, government departments, news by sally

“The Government’s response to a Parliamentary report on the monitoring and legislation surrounding surveillance is ‘inadequate’ and it has ‘paid insufficient attention’ to the report’s recommendations, a follow up report has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd June 2009

Source: www.out-law.com</a

Social networking giants are subject to EU data protection laws, say regulators – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 23rd, 2009 in data protection, internet, news by sally

“Social networking sites are legally responsible for their users’ privacy, Europe’s privacy watchdogs have confirmed. A committee of data protection regulators has said that the sites are ‘data controllers’, with all the legal obligations that brings.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd June 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

DNA policy ‘stigmatises children’ – BBC News

Posted June 9th, 2009 in children, data protection, DNA, news by sally

“DNA samples are being taken from children in a London borough at the rate of nearly one a day, figures show.”

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BBC News, 8th June 2009

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Code for handling personal data is muddled, says lawyer – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 3rd, 2009 in data protection, news by sally

“A code of conduct for handling personal data was launched in London yesterday. But the document is inconsistent on the need for consent when collecting personal data, according to a data protection expert. Sometimes consent is not necessary, he said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd June 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Abortion numbers for disabilities should be kept secret: Government lawyers – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 1st, 2009 in abortion, data protection, freedom of information, news, statistics by sally

“Releasing data on the number of abortions performed for conditions like clubroot and cleft palate may cause ‘mental distress or harm’ to vulnerable women and must be kept secret, lawyers for the Department of Health have argued.”

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Daily Telegraph, 29th May 2009

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Patients win right to delete records on controversial health database – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 29th, 2009 in data protection, medical records, news, privacy by sally

“Patients will be able to demand that their health records are deleted from the massive database being built by the NHS, privacy regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office has said. Previously, patients could only have details ‘masked’, not deleted.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th May 2009

Source: www.out-law.com

Database blacklist saw thousands denied jobs – The Independent

Posted May 28th, 2009 in data protection, employment, news by sally

“Thousands of workers in the construction industry were denied employment because of a secret ‘blacklist’, a court heard today.”

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The Independent, 27th May 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Fury as Commons denied DNA vote – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2009 in data protection, DNA, news, police by sally

“Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, has been warned that the government risks further damaging the public’s faith in politics after it emerged that plans for the police to keep innocent people’s DNA profiles for up to 12 years will become law without a Commons vote.”

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The Guardian, 24th May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

NHS patients given right to delete electronic record – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2009 in data protection, medical records, news by sally

“NHS patients will be allowed to delete electronic summaries of their treatment records from a new national medical database, the Guardian has learned.”

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The Guardian, 26th May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Database of all children launched – BBC News

Posted May 18th, 2009 in children, data protection, news by sally

“A controversial database which holds the details of every child in England has now become available for childcare professionals to access.”

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BBC News, 17th May 2009

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Blacklisting of union members by companies to be outlawed – The Guardian

Posted May 11th, 2009 in data protection, news, trade unions, victimisation by sally

“The government is to outlaw the use by companies of covert blacklists that have prevented trade unionists from getting work. Ministers have been forced to act after a watchdog exposed widespread blacklisting in the construction industry this year.”

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The Guardian, 10th May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

DNA pioneer condemns plan to keep details on database for 12 years – The Guardian

Posted May 8th, 2009 in data protection, DNA, news by sally

“The government’s plans to reform the national DNA database were condemned yesterday by lawyers for the two innocent men whose European court victory forced ministers to change the rules.”

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The Guardian, 8th May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Wrongly accused people could have DNA on database for 12 years – The Times

Posted May 7th, 2009 in data protection, DNA, news by sally

“The DNA profiles of people released without charge or found not guilty by a court could be stored for up to 12 years on a national police database.”

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The Times, 7th May 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Jacqui Smith says DNA database profiles of 800,000 innocent people will be axed – The Guardian

Posted May 5th, 2009 in data protection, DNA, human rights, news by sally

“The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, will publish plans this week for the destruction of the DNA profiles of nearly a million innocent people from the police national database. The government’s response follows a ruling by the European court of human rights last year that the practice of retaining the DNA profiles was illegal.”

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The Guardian, 3rd May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk