Laptop encryption is basic security measure
Leaving laptops containing customers' personal details is a breach of Data Protection Act, Information watchdog says
Two organisations -- the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and Holly Park School in Barnet -- breached the Data Protection Act by failing to encrypt personal information on laptops that were later stolen, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.
The wathdog said that the ASCL breached the Data Protection Act in May 2011 when a laptop - containing sensitive personal data - was stolen from an employee's home in Yorkshire. At the time of the theft the laptop included unencrypted personal information relating to approximately 100 individuals, including details of their membership of the union and in some cases, details of their physical or mental health, said the ICO.
