B P Collins Solicitors: talk to the experts
Gerrards Cross: +44(0) 1753 889995
Beaconsfield: +44(0) 1494 675363
Related stories
Interest rates altered on transactions
22 December 2008
New code 'to speed up business to business payments'
15 December 2008
New website launched to help inventors
17 November 2008
Bond movie party is just the ticket
31 October 2008
Organisations 'should be fined over data loss'
23 June 2008
Both commercial and public-sector organisations ought to be fined over the loss of personal data, according to one expert.
Dr Mark Walport, a member of the Council for Science and Technology, told BBC One's The Politics Show that "too many" organisations leave responsibility for data in the hands of "someone fairly junior in the firm".
"The responsibility and accountability needs to be with the most senior people and if it goes wrong, then there do need to be penalties," Dr Walport told the programme.
The expert highlighted the case involving HM Revenue and Customs during which it lost some 25 million personal records.
According to Dr Walport, there is no need for organisations to risk sending such information through the post.
Last October, prime minister Gordon Brown requested that Dr Walport provide a report on the ways that personal data is used within the private and public sectors.
