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SMEs routinely breach the Data Protection Act
From: security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 10:49:10 +0000 (UTC)
http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article263145.html SMEs routinely breach the Data Protection Act SMEs routinely breach the Data Protection Act - (08/06/2009) According to a survey of over 500 small and medium businesses conducted by BSI, almost one in five businesses has unwittingly breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) at least once. Of these, nearly half said they had breached the Act on several occasions and an additional 18% said they were not sure whether they had or not. A breach could refer to the illegal transfer of information to a third party, failure to hold information securely or neglect of other legal obligations. The survey provides a snapshot of how UK businesses manage the personal information they hold on staff and customers, including sensitive data such as racial or ethnic origin, trade union membership and criminal proceedings. It was carried out to mark the publication today of a new British Standard on data protection which will help organizations put in place a framework for maintaining and improving compliance with data protection legislation and good practice. The survey also found that: * 65% of businesses provide no data protection training for their staff. * Nearly half of those surveyed admit that there is no one in their business with specific responsibility for data protection. * 15% of businesses are not confident that their data sharing practices conform to the DPA and worryingly, almost 5% of these frequently share data regardless. * 18% of businesses said that data protection is less of a priority in the current economic climate. [..] _______________________________________________ Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org) Get business, compliance, IT and security staff on the same page with CREDANT Technologies: The Shortcut Guide to Understanding Data Protection from Four Critical Perspectives. The eBook begins with considerations important to executives and business leaders. http://www.credant.com/campaigns/ebook-chpt-one-web.php
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