Neath Port Talbot Council has confirmed that one of its employees has lost a memory stick containing confidential information.
The south Wales council has launched an investigation into the loss of the device which, according to the BBC, contained information about vulnerable children. One foster carer told the broadcaster that the information could put children at risk.
In a statement to GC News, Andrew Thomas, head of support services and commissioning education and life-long learning at the council, said: "Neath Port Talbot Council has launched an internal investigation following the loss by a staff member of a memory stick containing confidential information."
"It is inappropriate for us to make any further comment until the investigation has been concluded. Action has been taken to inform the relevant authorities," said Thomas.
Earlier this month, Leeds City Council issued an apology after losing a memory stick containing unencrypted details of 5,000 nursery children. The memory stick contained names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, child-protection information, ethnicity and whether the parents concerned are claiming benefits.
In November, prime minister Gordon Brown said the government can never guarantee the security of sensitive data, after a memory stick containing passwords for the Department for Work and Pension's Government Gateway service was left in a pub car park by an Atos Origin employee.
Talkback
The loser of the mem stick and the next two superiors up should be dismissed regardless - it was lost and the regulations governing mem sticks failed to prevent it. If there has been a disregard of written instructions for use of mem sticks then a criminal prosecution should be initiated for the courts to decide the level of guilt and punishment.
There is no excuse - my mem stick is looped on a lanyard round my neck.
They used to say carelessness lost lives. It is not quite a hanging offence - but surely such information should not ever have left the 'office'. Why is all this data getting lost? Can it not be transferred FTP or other means over the web?
In the meantime, sack him/her and the bosses too!
Even if it is correct to assume that written instructions were not followed it would not necessarily be acceptable for the person who lost the device to be sacked. It would have to be clear that they were aware that data loss resulting from failure to follow instructions is likely to result in dismissal.
As for sacking their superiors that would be virtually certain to result in an unfair dismissal claim that is likely to be very difficult to defend. Such a move would be extremely unwise.
The better solution is good user education. Unfortunately many organisations simply give people computers and portable data storage devices and do not tell them how to use them in ways that properly maintain security.
It is a matter of managerial responsibility and failure penalties. If the individual responsible for the loss acted in disregard of properly written procedures then that individual must go without recompense. The line manager must satisfactorily explain why his/her routine procedures were unable to prevent the individual lapse. An unsatisfactory explanation should at least require reprimand and demotion, possibly dismissal, for negligence.
Where there are no clear written instructions then the individual responsible for producing and implementing such instructions should be reprimanded and demoted or dismissed for negligence.
Contracts for employment should always allow for uncompensated dismissal for administrative negligence or incompetence.
Individuals at every level must accept personal responsibility for their allocated work and understand that failure can lead to dismissal or demotion. Being a manager or executive must never be a reason to accept incompetence or negligence, especially in public service jobs.