New guidelines for organisations over loss of data

ORGANISATIONS that lose the personal data of clients have been advised to contact the Data Protection Commissioner as the first port of call.

In the public sector, recent guidance from the Department of Finance on data security advises departments and agencies to report data breaches immediately to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

In a statement issued yesterday, data protection commissioner Billy Hawkes recommended the same approach be followed by all organisations. He said: “We have seen a welcome trend towards organisations seeking our advice when they suffer a data breach. Our main focus is on preventing such loss of personal data and the distress it can cause to individuals. But we recognise mistakes do happen and it is vital that organisations are ready to react.”