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Child data was left on the floor
Phil Halsall
Sensitive documents about children are among more than 20 pieces of vital data “lost” by Lancashire County Council officers.
Between August 2008 and this year, laptops, notebooks and papers have been misplaced, misdirected or lost by County Hall.
And data and letters have been sent to the wrong people, leading to sensitive information being disclosed.
In one case, a piece of paper from a Child Protection Report, which included the name of the child, was found outside an office.
A letter which contained a child’s special needs assessment was also found on the floor outside an office.
In another case, the minutes of a meeting with a user of one of the council’s services was sent to them along with minutes from another meeting, containing the name of another child’s personal information.
A notebook containing draft minutes from disciplinary proceedings was also left in a pool car. The council said that led to “instructions about taking sensitive information out of the office” being issued to staff.
Another case saw an encrypted laptop containing unspecified data found left at Leyland House – with the encryption ID and password next to it. And sensitive personal information was disclosed when minutes of meetings were twice sent to the wrong people. Two separate laptops have also been left on trains by staff. The information on them was not disclosed.
The findings were disclosed by pressure group Big Brother Watch using the Freedom of Information Act.
Phil Halsall, chief executive of LCC, said: “We take each and every loss of council property or information very seriously and look into each incident to consider if any changes are needed to further protect sensitive information.
“Action taken has included providing additional staff training, changing our processes and reviewing the software we use.
“We also take disciplinary action where appropriate. It’s important to make clear that this represents a very small amount of the personal data we hold.”
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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