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Private eye

27 July 2012 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7524 / Categories: Features , Data protection , Freedom of Information
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Tom Morrison returns with his quarterly review of the world of information law

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been handed the largest civil monetary penalty issued so far under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998). At £325,000, this substantial fine was issued following the theft of computer hard drives containing confidential information relating to thousands of patients and staff in September 2010. Highly sensitive personal data was found on hard drives sold on eBay two months later. The data included details of patients’ medical conditions and treatment, disability living allowance forms and reports on children. It also included documents containing staff details such as National Insurance numbers, home addresses and information referring to criminal convictions and suspected offences.

Source of the information breach

It seems that the source of the breach was an individual engaged by the trust’s IT services provider which was supposed to securely destroy approximately 1,000 hard drives held in a secure room at Brighton General Hospital. Four of those hard drives made their way

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Birketts—trainee cohort

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NEWS
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The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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