Employee News 2020, Issue 48 - Important Reminder: Information Security and Data Breaches

As the changes to working practices brought about by Covid19 become more routine, colleagues are reminded of the duty of care every employee has over the personal information of service users.

The Council has had to deal with a number of data breaches over the past month.

As highlighted previously, personal information breaches are a significant risk. Data breaches cause distress to the data subject. They damage the Council's reputation and harm public trust at a time when that trust is most vital. In addition, the financial penalties that can result from a breach are substantial. It is essential that colleagues handle personal information with all the care and attention that it demands.

Colleagues are once more reminded to:-

Check emails before they are sent to ensure the recipient is correct -this applies to internal and external emails.

Use the blind copy, 'bcc' option when addressing an email to multiple service users. It is imperative that the contact details of service users are not shared with other service users and so the "to" and "cc" fields must not be used.

Ensure that smart home devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home are not receiving or recording when you are participating in work online/video meetings or phonecalls. This is especially important when sensitive Council business or services users are being discussed.

Keep any paper records that you have at home securely stored and not left lying around. This includes notebooks.

Save electronic records in the appropriate EDC networked file structure. Do not save records on the laptop's 'c drive' or desktop. 

If you think you may have shared personal data with another officer or external party by mistake then please contact the Information Management Team as a matter of urgency.

Ann Davie
Depute Chief Executive, Education, People & Business

Thursday 6 August 2020