Data Protection Act places 'obligation' on organisations

News Article - Thursday, March 20, 2008

filed under: Regulatory

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The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has stressed that the Data Protection Act places an "obligation" on organisations.

David Smith, deputy commissioner of the ICO, urges consumers to ensure that they are familiar with the act in order to ensure their personal details are adequately protected.

Consumers have "specific rights" relating to the protection of their personal and financial details and organisations that keep information about them are required to put safeguards in place.

Mr Smith explained that businesses have to keep information "accurate and secure and if they don't live up to these obligations you can complain to the ICO and we will investigate and enforce action".

Accounting packages and payroll software can help businesses to protect both customer and employee details and business critical data, and to comply with the Data Protection Act.

A recent ICO survey revealed that people are becoming increasingly concerned about the security of their personal details and 14 per cent of those polled stated that they had recently learnt that it is the Data Protection Act that sets out how companies and government departments manage personal information.

A study by security firm Sophos recently revealed that two out of three business computers are not completely secure, with many running out-of-date antivirus software, operating disabled firewalls and missing security patches.

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