British Council breached Data Protection Act
British Council has been found in breach of the Data Protection Act after losing an unencrypted computer disc containing the sensitive data of 2,000 employees. In December 2008, the disc went missing in transit after the Council sent it using a TNT courier service to the department's human resources staff. The British Council reported the data breach to the Information Commissioner's Office as soon as it became aware of the incident.
The disc was reported to have contained information including names, salaries, national insurance details and bank account numbers. The ICO has since revealed it contained personal data on 2,000 trade union members in addition to bank details.
The Council claimed at the time of the breach that the disc was secure and required special equipment to access, but the ICO has noted that the disc was unencrypted.
