Councils should clear out documents securely over summer, says PHS Datashred
Cardiff (PRWEB UK) 31 July 2013 -- The Scottish Borders Council was fined £250,000 in September 2012 by the Information Commissioner's Office after 600 employee records were found in an overfilled paper recycling bank in a supermarket car park.
Earlier this month, the BBC reported that the decision to fine the Council was overturned after an appeal against the Monetary Penalty Notice. Nonetheless, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) described the incident as a “serious breach of the Data Protection Act”, and PHS Datashred believes it should act as a wakeup call to councils across the country.
Anthony Pearlgood, Managing Director of PHS Datashred, said: “Scottish Borders Council may have avoided a £250,000 penalty charge, but the ICO actually has the power to fine companies up to £500,000 for failing to protect confidential information.
“Councils using the summer period to clear out offices should ensure they take the necessary steps to destroy sensitive and personal documentation to prevent incurring their own financial penalty- they may not be as fortunate as Scottish Borders Council.”
PHS Datashred says that the summer months are a common time of year for councils to organise their offices or relocate completely, because of the quiet period provided by the school holidays. Regular clear outs not only free up valuable storage space, but also ensure that confidential documents are not held onto for an inappropriate length of time.
The Data Protection Act states that when personal data is no longer needed by an organisation it should be destroyed, and PHS Datashred advises councils to use a secure shredding company in order to do so.
Anthony Pearlgood said: “It is your responsibility to let go of sensitive information when it is no longer needed, as well as making sure it is destroyed responsibly rather than just left in a recycling bank.
“Scottish Borders Council showed how easy it is to take your eye off the ball when it comes to outsourcing data destruction, so you should always choose a company that guarantees to destroy your documents in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
“PHS Datashred not only disposes of your confidential information according to legislation, but also works to BSEN 15713 security shredding standard. By using our onsite or offsite shredding services, councils can be reassured that their data is completely protected from potential breaches.”
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Notes for editors
About PHS
The PHS Group is a leading workplace services provider, and has traded in the UK since 1963. It has a diverse service portfolio aimed at improving work and leisure spaces, while making life much easier for facilities, building and people managers.
PHS really does ‘do more than you think’, providing products and services for:
• Crate rental and packaging
• Interior and exterior planting
• Laundry equipment and workwear
• Matting and flooring
• Records storage and management
• Shredding and recycling
• Testing and compliance
• Washrooms
• Waste management
• Water machines
• Workplace consumables
PHS provides these direct to UK companies, and also operates as a tier one supplier to the facilities management market, supporting the integrated service propositions of most of the major FMs.
The PHS Group’s annual turnover for the year ending March 2012 was £422 million. It employs around 5,000 personnel, operates from a wide network of 153 regional service branches, and takes care of over 250,000 customers at over 450,000 locations in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Belgium and Spain.
http://www.phs.co.uk/datashred
Caroline Williams, PHS Datashred, http://www.shredding.info, 02920809130, [email protected]
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