Sex-papers council fined £70,000

The confidential records were stolen during a burglary after a social worker employed by the London Borough of Barnet took the papers home from work.

It followed another similar theft and resulted in the loss of papers detailing a complaint about one child’s sexual abuse case which was being investigated by police.

The documents also listed the names, addresses and dates of birth of 15 vulnerable children and included references to their sexual activities, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.

The material, held by Barnet Council, was stored with an encrypted computer in a laptop bag which was taken during the burglary in April last year.

In an earlier theft, the council lost an unencrypted device containing personal data which was stolen from the home of another Barnet employee.

An investigation by the ICO found the council failed to take appropriate organisational measures against the accidental loss of personal data held on paper records.

“Although the council had an information security policy and some guidance for staff on handling sensitive papers, the measures failed to explain how the information should be kept secure,” the ICO found.

While the council introduced a paper-handling policy following the first theft, this policy was not in place at the time of the second loss.

ICO operations director Simon Entwisle said: “The potential for damage and distress in this case is obvious. It is, therefore, extremely disappointing the council had not put in place sufficient measures in time to avoid this second loss.

“While we are pleased that Barnet Council has now taken action to keep the personal data they use secure, it is vitally important that organisations have the correct guidance in place to keep sensitive paper records taken outside of the office safe.

“This includes storing papers containing sensitive information separately from laptops.”

A council spokesman said there was no evidence to suggest the stolen information was misused.