Over the duration of one month, the Information Commissioner’s Office has taken enforcement action on the third English NHS trust over data loss.
Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust has been reprimanded over the loss of 2 laptops that contained personal information of about 389 patients. The increase in data loss and the handling of sensitive data by the NHS using unencrypted devices is a growing concern for the Information Commissioner Office (ICO).
The two laptops were kept on the desk of a locked office, which is in breach of the security procedures followed by the Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust. Furthermore, the laptops contained sensitive information that was not encrypted.
According to the assistant Information Commissioner, Mick Gorrill, the ICO is concerned over the loss of data such as patient’s personal information and the way that some NHS organisations are transferring sensitive data onto unencrypted laptops and other mobile devices.
Following the data loss, Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust has been required to sign an understanding that outlines that they will process personal data according with the Data Protection Act.
Last year, NHS Tayside and NHS Lanarkshire, were asked to comply with the Data Protection Act by signing an agreement.
To prevent such incidents of data loss and misuse of confidential personal information, it is best to have an online data backup provider that is secure and protected.
