ICO: A Welsh home care provider has been found in breach of the Data Protection Act after the files of 10 vulnerable and elderly people were found on a street in Neath Port Talbot. The news follows an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) into the data loss by Neath Care in August 2013.
The papers explained the individuals’ care plans and included sensitive information relating to their health. The ICO found that Neath Care failed to provide their staff with guidance explaining how sensitive personal information should be handled and kept secure when taken outside of the office. A lack of basic monitoring also meant that the provider only became aware that the papers were missing when the matter was reported to them by a member of the public.