FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Council and government staff now face fines and prison for misuse of personal data under new proposals

February 9, 2007

Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

With greater personal data now held by government bodies, the risk of misuse increases. Personal data like credit card details, medical records, bank details, addresses, driving convictions, child support settlements and other details are now held electronically by multiple government bodies. These government bodies are sharing data at an ever increasing rate. This has raises concerns from the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, and the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, that the security of personal data is maintained.

It is estimated that the misuse of personal data that leads to identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7 billion a year and is up 500% since 1999. Identify theft has effected an estimated 4.1 million Britons according to Sainsbury Bank.

Under new proposals, the misuse of personal data would in the future become a criminal offense with a maximum punishment of six months in prison on conviction in a magistrates’ court and up to two years in a Crown court. These prison penalties would include the misuse of personal data by government employees.

The misuse of personal data is usually associated with identity theft or the selling of personal details of famous individuals like the royal family to the press. However, recent cases have highlighted how individuals have talked their way into the possession of personal data from government offices. The lack of processes and checks to stop this inappropriate release of personal information is concerning.

The solution to the issue of inappropriate release of person data by government employees has two areas to address. The first area is the storage and access control to the digital data. The key is to define who has access, for what legitimate reasons and that all requests are traceable. The second area is around the procedures that government workers use to verify that they can legitimately divulge sensitive personal data. In fact, the Information Commissioners Office took the Liverpool City Council to court on the grounds that their procedures for information management were ‘seriously deficient’. The Liverpool City Council was found guilty and fined.

Buyers Guide and its website, www.buyersguide.co.uk, can help the government purchasers and managers now find the right technology and process consultancies to help protect the personal data they hold. Buyers Guide lists over 5,000 companies that want to work with the government and offers a specific category of companies that provide “data protection” services to the government. Companies in this category include IBM, SAS, Ncipher, Assurix, Guidance Software, Active Navigation and others. This means that Buyers Guide is well placed between the 43,000 government buyers and the companies that service their needs.

What makes www.buyersguide.co.uk unique and different from the general internet or print directories is that the details of these 100’s of IT service companies can be updated at any time with breaking news of relevant successes like new contract wins, new technologies, or patents awarded. Additionally, to tailor each message to public sector buyers, Buyers Guide offers each company a “profile” on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website. This profile is written to answer the pre-qualification questions from public sector buyers. This usually includes information like; previous work with other government bodies, case studies of past successes, years in business, industry qualifications or certifications like ISO 9002, testimonials from clients, government awards like investors in people, confirmation of equal opportunity employer status and specific contact details.

Government purchasing officers are incredibly busy and need to find the right service vendors quickly. The Buyers Guide profiling system allows them to do just that. With 2 clicks of the mouse, they can easily find qualified vendors in their area.

There are over 5,000 company listings in 1,200 categories on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website. The companies listed range from family businesses to multinationals, but all have the goal of working on public sector contracts. The public sector bodies regularly using the Buyers Guide website include central government, regional and local authorities, DfES, NHS, Universities, Ministry of Defence, social enterprises and government supported non-profit organizations.

Contact:

Buyers Guide
0191 260 5388
0191 221 2287
info@buyersguide.co.uk
www.buyersguide.co.uk

Company History

Buyers Guide, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, was established in 1996 and is the leading online directory of UK companies that are targeting the £600 billion in public spending each year. To date, there are over 5,000 company listings in 1,200 categories on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website.