Is your personal confidential data safe in the UK?
After the announcement that HSBC has been fined £3.2 million with regards to data protection issues in the UK, many consumers will be wondering whether their private confidential data is actually safe in the hands of the government and private companies. Even though the HSBC fine has grabbed headlines today, there is no doubt that the UK government, and many other civil service offices, have also been guilty of serious breaches of the data protection act.
Ultimately it has to be said that the vast majority of these data protection issues have not resulted in any financial loss to those involved although that is not to say it will not happen in the future. The breaches which have grabbed the headlines appear to have been genuine errors rather than criminal activity although with so much data available it is often difficult to see whether it has fallen into the wrong hands. Thankfully regulators have now started to come down heavily on issues regarding data protection and personal details which should ensure a significant increase in training of personnel in this particular field.
However, it is also worth noting that no information is 100% secure, even if you retain it at home or it is held by a third party.
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