NHS Trust fined GBP175,000 for 'entirely avoidable' data breach
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined Torbay Care Trust (TCT) £175,000 for a data breach it said was "entirely avoidable".
The Trust, based in Devon, had published "sensitive details" of over 1,000 employees on its website in April 2011, the ICO said.
The details were found in a spreadsheet on the website and the Trust was only made aware of the mistake when it was reported by a member of the public 19 weeks after being published. The data comprised the equality and diversity responses of 1,373 staff, which included individuals' names, dates of birth and National Insurance numbers, as well information about religion and sexuality.