Geoff Parkinson Managing Director of Shredonline Limited comments on recent fines

UK DATA PROTECTION FINES FIRST SIGN OF COMING CHANGES ACROSS REGION

Reported by the BBC

24 November 2010

The UK Data Protection Commissioner has issued the first two fines under a new penalty structure enacted nearly 8 months ago.

A £60,000 fine was levied against a private firm for losing a laptop computer containing the unencrypted personal details of thousands of individuals, while a public agency, the Hertfordshire County Council, was fined £100,000.  Last March, the UK government increased the maximum fines for violations of the data protection directive to £500,000.

According to Geoff Parkinson Managing Director of Shredonline Limited “It is only a matter of time before such fines start to be the norm for improper disposal of information. It is gouing to cost companies and all other organisations ever increasing sums of money for not taking the destruction of confidential information seriously. 

The article also cites a recent UK survey where four out of five people feel the need for a law which would force companies to publicly declare any data breaches.