Top story

• Too many consumers being denied access to their information, says ICO

Corporate

• Information Rights Strategy launched

Freedom of information

• Guide to Freedom of Information published
• Consultation on FOI publication schemes concludes

Data protection

• ICO undertakes joint action with the Data Supervisor for the Isle of Man
• NHS restructure highlights importance of effective information governance
• Date set for ICO cloud computing seminar

Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations

• PECR monetary penalty guidance published
  

Top story

Access Aware is one of the first outcomes of the ICO's information rights priority work. Health bodies as well as banking and finance companies have been identified as the areas most needing to improve in relation to handling subject access requests.

Corporate

To coincide with the launch of the strategy the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, published a blog post discussing the ICO's outlook for 2012.

Freedom of Information

This is the first time that the ICO has published an overview that explains all the basic requirements of the Act in one place and follows on from the success of the ICO's 'Guide to Data Protection' which was launched two years ago. Both Guides are written in plain English and have been accredited by the Plain Language Commission.

This new guide will eventually act as a spine to which all the ICO's more detailed guidance on the Freedom of Information Act will be linked. We will be updating all of our more detailed guidance on the Act over the coming months. An equivalent Guide to the Environmental Information Regulations is also planned and further updates on this work will be provided in this e-newsletter.

In total, 58 responses were received. The Commissioner would like to thank the authorities that participated in the consultation.

The ICO will now conduct an analysis of the formal responses, as well as reviewing respondents' comments gathered as part of the Tell Me More survey and the public focus groups held in December. An action plan will be published in March.

Data Protection Act

Praxis Care Limited breached both the UK Data Protection Act and the Isle of Man Data Protection Act when an unencrypted memory stick was lost by an employee on the Isle of Man in August last year. The device contained the personal data of 53 residents in Northern Ireland as well as 107 people living on the island. The ruling is the first time the ICO has taken joint action with the ODPS.

Last year the ICO took enforcement action against a number of NHS organisations that failed to keep personal information secure. Many of these data breaches could have been avoided if the organisations had adequate data protection policies and up-to-date asset registers in place.

The National Information Governance Board (NIGB) has produced guidance to help organisations across the health service maintain good information governance practices during this period. The ICO's advice for health service organisations is also available on the ICO website.

During this transitional period it is vital that organisations ensure they are fulfilling their obligations under the Data Protection Act. This includes making sure mobile devices, such as laptops, are stored securely and encrypted where necessary. Once personal data is no longer required, organisations must also make sure it is securely destroyed.

While the ICO was not able to accommodate everyone who expressed an interest, a broad range of organisations based on their size and sector will be represented.

The event - which will be held at the ICO's offices in Wilmslow - will also be attended by a number of cloud providers to give their views from a service provider perspective.

Feedback from the day, along with the results of our recent cloud computing survey, will be used to inform the ICO's future guidance on the cloud.

Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)

The statutory guidance covering the ICO's powers to issue monetary penalties has been amended to incorporate these additional powers and was laid before Parliament on 30 January 2012. It is available on the ICO website.

Further information

A list of our latest job vacancies can also be found at: http://www.ico.jobs/.

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