The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
has forced 11 banks and financial institutions to sign an
undertaking to stick to the Principles laid down in the Data
Protection Act when it comes to dealing with customer data.
"It is unacceptable for banks and other
organisations to carelessly discard their customers’ information,"
said David Smith, deputy Information Commissioner. "It is vital
that banks and other organisations take security seriously. If they
do not, they not only risk further action from the Information
Commissioner but also risk losing the trust of their customers.
Individuals must feel confident that banks and other organisations
are safeguarding their personal information.”
The businesses were found to have discarded
personal information in waste bins or receptacles outside their
premises. The companies involved were HBOS, Alliance &
Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scarborough Building Society,
Clydesdale Bank, Natwest, United National Bank, Barclays Bank,
Co-operative Bank, HFC Bank, Nationwide Building Society and The
Post Office.
In addition to the financial companies, the
Immigration Advisory Service was also found to have disposed of
information in a similar way.
The ICO said that if the organisations fail to
stick to the undertakings they have signed they will face further
action by it, and could face prosecution. It is a criminal offence
to fail to comply with an enforcement notice of the ICO.
The office also said that it believed that
companies which are found to have lax security which breaches the
Data Protection Act should face an information security audit by
the ICO.
It was just such an audit conducted by the
financial services regulator the Financial Services Authority which
led to the almost £1 million fine levied by the FSA against the
Nationwide Building Society earlier this year.
The theft of a Nationwide laptop exposed
customer details to possible theft, but the FSA told OUT-LAW at the
time that the bulk of the fine related to failures in Nationwide
information security systems that it found when it performed an
audit at the company.
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