With the increasing use of mobile devices, we want to issue guidelines with regards to staff responsibilities about protecting the information on them. A staff member recently had her laptop stolen and we feel it would be prudent to ask her to submit a report regarding the type of information she had stored on it so we can make an assessment with regards to privacy, data protection etc. We are also questioning whether she should claim for this on her own insurance as she had been careless with its storage.

The Data Protection Act requires companies to put in place procedures and technologies to maintain the security of all personal data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. Companies must ensure that appropriate security measures are taken against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data, and against the accidental loss of, or damage to, personal data. Data subjects may apply to the courts for compensation if they have suffered damage from such a loss.

With the increasing use of laptops and mobile phones it would be prudent for any company to set out guidelines to safeguard against the loss of any confidential or sensitive information. A company policy could be