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Norwood fined £70k for 'staggering' data protection breach

October 11, 2012 11:21

By

Anna Sheinman,

Anna Sheinman

1 min read

Highly sensitive information about the care of four young children disappeared after being left by a Norwood Ravenswood social worker outside a London home.

The charity was this week fined £70,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for breaching the Data Protection Act.

ICO head of enforcement Stephen Eckersley noted that “the children involved in this case were no more than six-years-old. Now they are in a situation where their most sensitive details could be in the hands of a complete stranger. The fact that the social worker had received no training while working at the charity on how to look after what is extremely sensitive information is truly staggering. This breach was entirely avoidable.”

The social worker had attempted to deliver detailed reports to the property of the children’s prospective adoptive parents last December. The occupants were not at home. When they returned, the reports — “including details of any neglect and abuse suffered by the children, along with information about their birth families” — were gone and the material has never been recovered.