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November 8 2017

Warning for workers after charity employee is prosecuted for data protection offences

The ICO warns that people working with personal information have to obey strict privacy laws after a charity worker was prosecuted for making his own copies of sensitive data.

[Name, age redacted], sent spreadsheets containing the information of vulnerable clients to his personal email address without the knowledge of the data controller, his employer the Rochdale Connections Trust.

The defendant sent 11 emails from his work email account on 22 February 2017, which contained the sensitive personal data of 183 people, three of whom were children. The personal data included full names, dates of birth, telephone numbers and medical information. Further investigation showed that he had sent a similar database to his personal account on 14 June 2016.

[Name, location redacted], of Rochdale, appeared at Preston Crown Court and admitted unlawfully obtaining personal data in breach of Section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998. He was given a conditional discharge for two years and was also