Leicester City Council could be fined up to £500,000 for losing memory stick

[Alison J Stevens]

Leicester City Council could be fined up to £500,000 for losing memory stick

Leicester City Council could be fined up to £500,000 for losing a memory stick carrying information about elderly and vulnerable people.

As the Mercury revealed yesterday, the device containing the home security codes and medical details of about 4,000 city residents was lost earlier this month.

It disappeared from the offices of LeicesterCare, the council’s service which supports vulnerable city residents.

The loss of the memory stick has been reported to police and to the Government’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has started its own investigation. If the city council is found to have failed to meet ICO guidelines, the council could be fined a maximum of £500,000. But Councillor Michael Cooke, who is responsible for adult care in the city, said whether a fine was imposed or not, the work being carried out to inform people of the problem and change the security codes was already costing the council a lot in time and resources.

He said: “We’re now dealing with the consequences by ensuring we contact everyone.

“We now have to put resources into other things, such as visiting the homes of everyone involved, so a cost is already being borne.

“I’m disappointed it’s happened but happy staff responded to it in the way they have.”

The missing memory stick contained 2,000 keysafe codes, which are used to open boxes, attached to an outside wall of people’s homes, which contain a key to the front door.

The council is in the process of changing all 2,000 of the codes.

The missing device was used as a back-up to record information on council computers, and was locked in a safe each night.

It was not supposed to leave the offices, in Blackbird Road, and the council said it believes it is missing within the building.

It added that all information was encoded.

A spokesman for the ICO confirmed the situation was being investigated.

He said: “We can’t speculate on what action we would take until we’ve looked at the case in full, but our highest enforcement power is a penalty of up to £500,000 for a breach of the Data Protection Act.

“The main concerns for us are whether or not the organisation has done enough to prevent that breach and whether or not the breach has caused damage.”

Anyone concerned about their security, or that of a friend, can call LeicesterCare’s helpline on 0116 252 6274.