header-logo header-logo

Private eye

23 November 2012 / Tom Morrison
Issue: 7539 / Categories: Features , Data protection
printer mail-detail
istock_000010982433medium_4

Tom Morrison returns with his quarterly review of the world of information law

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has again made clear that it is not optional to encrypt personal data held on any portable storage device. Nevertheless, many businesses, charities and public sector organisations are either deliberately or unwittingly allowing the continued use of unencrypted devices. It would be a bit of a pun to say that encryption is key to data security, but it has for some time been clear that it is likely that you will be found to be in breach of principle seven of the Data Protection Act 1998 if you lose an unencrypted device containing personal data. Unfortunately, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was reminded of that by finding itself on the wrong end of a £150,000 fine.

Based on the reported facts, it was a bit of a slam dunk for the ICO. A drugs squad detective took a memory stick home and kept it safe in his wallet. Sadly, his home was broken into and his wallet—along with

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll