Data Protection
Security measures
The Council has implemented appropriate security measures in
line with the Data Protection Act 1998. In particular unauthorised
staff and other individuals are prevented from gaining access to
personal information. Appropriate building security is in place
with visitors being received and supervised when outside public
areas, where information about individuals is stored. All third
party contractors are requested to sign a statement of privacy
(Appendix (b)), to protect personal information, which they may
inadvertently see during their time on site. Computer systems are
installed with password controls and, where necessary, audit and
access trails to establish each user is fully authorised. In
addition, employees are fully informed about overall security
measures and the importance of their role in the success of those
measures.
Security arrangements are reviewed regularly. All new computer
systems will be designed to provide appropriate security measures
for the level of personal data being processed. The necessary level
of security for each new system will be judged on the sensitivity
of the data to be administered, and this will be brought to the
attention of third party suppliers when tendering for new systems,
and will be part of any new contracts.
Officers of the Council will not under any circumstances take
sensitive personal data home, or access personal data from home,
for use on home computers, or on a Council laptop/notebook PC. This
information will not be downloaded, carried home on memory
sticks/CDs, printed out and carried home, or e-mailed to ones' own
e-mail address. The Council is covered to hold personal data, for
the notified purpose(s) and although the processing may be legal,
the appropriate security measures, as discussed above, would not be
in place to do such processing at home. The processing/carrying of
some information may be permitted, but this will be judged on an
individual basis, and there must be adequate security arrangements
for the level of data, for example, password protection or
encryption.