Almost one in five businesses has unwittingly breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) at least once according to a survey of over 500 small and medium businesses conducted by BSI.
Of these, nearly half said they had breached the Act on several occasions and an additional 18% said they were not sure whether they had or not. A breach could refer to the illegal transfer of information to a third party, failure to hold information securely or neglect of other legal obligations.
The survey provides a snapshot of how UK businesses manage the personal information they hold on staff and customers, including sensitive data such as racial or ethnic origin, trade union membership and criminal proceedings. It was carried out to mark the publication today of a new British Standard on data protection which will help organizations put in place a framework for maintaining and improving compliance with data protection legislation and good practice.
The survey also found that:
-65% of businesses provide no data protection training for their staff.
-Nearly half of those surveyed admit that there is no one in their business with specific responsibility for data protection.
-15% of businesses are not confident that their data sharing practices conform to the DPA and worryingly, almost 5% of these frequently share data regardless.
-18% of businesses said that data protection is less of a priority in the current economic climate.
The new British Standard, BS10012, Data protection Specification for a personal information management system has been developed to establish best practice and aid compliance with data protection legislation. It is the first standard for the management of personal information.
The five million small and medium sized businesses in the UK form the backbone of the British economy, says Mike Low, director, Standards, BSI. These organizations are handling vast amounts of personal information on a daily basis and while it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place this survey shows that there is still a long way to go.
A third of businesses we surveyed stated that the complexity of the legislation restricts their compliance with the DPA.
The BSI survey backs up what we have known for some time that many organizations find the legislation in this area complex, says Gordon Wanless, chairman of the Data Protection Forum. The standard can help organizations put in place the measures which will lead to compliance and demonstrate that they are handling personal information responsibly.
L.D.