If it is found that Lichfield District Council has used thirteen unencrypted laptops to store, transfer or transmit personal data, then not only will the council’s reputation be irreparably damaged, but the law may very well have been broken too. It depends entirely on what purposes the laptops are being used for, but in any case, it would be best practice to have safeguards in place on all council equipment to ensure information of any kind is kept safe and secure from theft or loss.
…once again, we gain an unwelcomed insight into the priorities of the council.
Christopher J. Wilkinson
The council already employs a Data Protection Officer in keeping with the law, so I find this to be somewhat of a spurious issue. For the lack of encryption to have gone either unnoticed or unresolved for three years, however, is a startling revelation; once again, we gain an unwelcomed insight into the priorities of the council. Though council leaders change, the policies remain the same. There’s much talk but never much action with these things. This is the very sort of issue that causes disenchantment with politics, and it’s an issue that needn’t arise if common sense and good judgement was applied.
Christopher J. Wilkinson 