“Officer sentenced for data breach offenses”
“A serving Staffordshire police officer has been fined after she admitted misusing police systems while on duty.
PC Vicky Lockett, 37, a response officer from Stafford, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court today (Monday 20 August) and pleaded guilty to committing four offences under the Data Protection Act on 16 February 2018.
PC Lockett while on duty, accessed Staffordshire Police systems and viewed information held on those systems for a non-policing purpose.
The appearance follows an investigation by the force’s performance and standards unit.
PC Lockett was fined a total of £430 for the offences”.
Consider what could happen if your own staff accessed sensitive information without consent and acted in malice.
The obligations on both data controllers and data processors has increased as a result of GDPR taking effect in May-18.
The General Data Protection Regulation requires controllers and processors to “implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk”
The statutory penalty that can be imposed after GDPR will be far higher than the current £500k limit.
The true cost and data breaches is far higher than just the penalties – there are massive emotional costs and damage to your organisation’s reputation can be fatal. If trust in your business evaporates so will your customers and therefore cash flow.
One of the easiest ways to prevent data breaches in your workplace is to review how documents and data are destroyed.
