Reporting Personal Data Incidents and theft of IT storage devices
01 Dec 2010
Staff must report personal data breaches to ensure that the rights of individuals are protected
The University holds the personal data* of thousands of staff, students and research participants. The data belongs to them and they have rights, governed by the Data Protection Act, over what data can be collected and how it is used. All staff at the University are responsible for the protection of such data and must report any incident where personal data has been lost, stolen, released to unauthorised persons or corrupted.
The Information Commissioner’s Office, the independent body responsible for enforcing and overseeing compliance with legislation, has now started to fine organisations which compromise people's privacy and it is important that we can demonstrate that we respond quickly to any incident or “near miss”. It’s also vital that data protection concerns remain paramount among all staff members who work with personal data, so that adequate steps are taken to store and process it securely in compliance with data protection legislation.
Personal data breaches can cause real harm and distress to the individuals they affect and can provide the opportunity for identity fraud, so it’s important that incidents are reported as soon as possible to the University’s Records Management Office. Once the Records Management Office are notified, they will provide advice and guidance on the next steps to be taken to ensure that the rights of the individuals are protected and, where appropriate, inform the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Records Management Office can be contacted on:
- 0161 275 8111
or - infosec@listserv.manchester.ac.uk (outside office hours)
The only exception to this is where data has been lost following a theft or loss of confidential papers or IT equipment (e.g. laptops, USB drives, PCs) when the University Security Office must be contacted on:
- 0161 306 9966 (the number is on the back of your staff card)
Further information can be found at: