SMEs routinely breach the Data Protection Act

[security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>]

http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article263145.html

SMEs routinely breach the Data Protection Act SMEs routinely breach the 
Data Protection Act - (08/06/2009)

According to a survey of over 500 small and medium businesses conducted by 
BSI, almost one in five businesses has unwittingly breached the Data 
Protection Act (DPA) at least once. Of these, nearly half said they had 
breached the Act on several occasions and an additional 18% said they were 
not sure whether they had or not. A breach could refer to the illegal 
transfer of information to a third party, failure to hold information 
securely or neglect of other legal obligations.

The survey provides a snapshot of how UK businesses manage the personal 
information they hold on staff and customers, including sensitive data 
such as racial or ethnic origin, trade union membership and criminal 
proceedings. It was carried out to mark the publication today of a new 
British Standard on data protection which will help organizations put in 
place a framework for maintaining and improving compliance with data 
protection legislation and good practice.

The survey also found that:
* 65% of businesses provide no data protection training for their staff.
* Nearly half of those surveyed admit that there is no one in their 
business with specific responsibility for data protection.
* 15% of businesses are not confident that their data sharing practices 
conform to the DPA and worryingly, almost 5% of these frequently share 
data regardless.
* 18% of businesses said that data protection is less of a priority in the 
current economic climate.

[..]
_______________________________________________
Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org)

Get business, compliance, IT and security staff on the same page with
CREDANT Technologies: The Shortcut Guide to Understanding Data Protection
from Four Critical Perspectives. The eBook begins with considerations
important to executives and business leaders.
http://www.credant.com/campaigns/ebook-chpt-one-web.php