March 7th 2018
Although we are well aware that, as a Law firm, we tend to be blogging about negative issues, we only do this because the issues affect our readers, who by and large are business owners. However, this week we are concentrating on how poor data privacy decisions can personally and negatively affect EMPLOYEES.
Employees are entitled to protection from their Employer, in that they must provide a safe working environment and this extends to having proper data protection systems in place AND providing training in their correct application.
However, when an Employee decides to ignore the rules, the consequences for them personally can be devastating.
Serious data breaches often mean the Employee will lose their job (or resign before that can happen) but where a prosecution follows, the adverse publicity can follow them forever.
Every prospective Employer is bound to ‘Google’ the name of their applicant. If they find they were involved in a deliberate data breach then, to protect their own organisation, they will probably hire their competitor for the job. i.e. Someone who didn’t do that!
A recent example in Warwickshire where a Senior Manager at the Council unlawfully shared internal data with his partner, resulted in his resignation followed by a prosecution and a fine. Obviously, that is bad enough but what of his job prospects at 60 years of age with that information the first result on a simple web search of his name?
Readers may also remember that a few months ago, we reported about the first prison sentence handed out for a data breach, which was to an Employee who unlawfully accessed his Employers computer.
There have been several cases in the last 12 months, of Employees being fined for data breaches, including a Head Teacher, Doctor’s surgery staff member, a recruitment consultant and a Nurse.
Whether you are a Business Owner, an Employer or an Employee, it has never been easier to check whether your Data Privacy protocols are satisfactory.
A FREE OF CHARGE telephone advisory service is now available to anyone who wishes to enquire. As a wise man once said, it doesnt get any easier than FREE! No more excuses, check today!
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