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28 February 2008 / Anya Proops
Issue: 7310 / Categories: Features , Public , Legal services , Data protection
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Lost property

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Data losses—now it’s getting personal, says Anya Proops

Over the past three months the government has admitted to: the loss of two CDs containing personal data, including banking details, relating to 25 million parents; the loss in the US of personal data relating to three million UK learner drivers; and, further, a laptop containing the personal data, including banking details, of some 600,000 individuals who had expressed an interest in joining the armed forces.

In December 2007, eight NHS trusts admitted to losing up to 168,000 patient records. Also in December 2007, Leeds Building Society admitted that it had lost the salary and banking details of 1,000 employees. In January 2008, Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, issued an enforcement notice against Marks & Spencer (M&S) after an unencrypted laptop containing information about the pension arrangements of around 26,000 M&S employees was stolen from a contractor.

 

PROTECTION CONCERNS

These staggering developments have not only seriously dented public confidence in the ability of public and private sector organisations

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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International arbitration team strengthened by double partner hire

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

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Firm celebrates trio holding senior regional law society and junior lawyers division roles

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Partner joins commercial and business litigation team in London

NEWS
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Legal Action Group set out 2026 events calendar
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As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
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Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
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Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
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The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
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