UK: Over 600 HMRC staff disciplined for data infractions

[lyger <lyger () attrition org>]

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39408914,00.htm

HM Revenue & Customs has had to discipline over 600 staff since 2005 over 
data-protection incidents, according to Treasury financial secretary Jane 
Kennedy.

Kennedy revealed on Wednesday in a written answer to parliamentary 
questions that 238 staff were disciplined at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) 
in 2005, dropping to 180 in 2006 and 192 in 2007. The figures were 
revealed in answer to a written parliamentary question by Conservative MP 
James Brokenshire.

"HMRC has a strict policy forbidding staff to access customer records, 
unless they have a legitimate business need," she said. "Breaches of this 
policy are taken seriously and any breach will result in the commencement 
of disciplinary proceedings. Each case is treated on its merits but, in 
many cases, the disciplinary penalty for breach is dismissal."

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