Hélène Mulholland reports the follow-up to a breach reported previously on this blog:
Oliver Letwin committed a series of data protection breaches by dumping correspondence from constituents in a park bin close to Downing Street, according to the information commissioner.
The letters and emails contained the names, addresses and contact details of about 20 individuals, as well as information relating to one person’s recent hospital treatment, according to the commissioner’s report.
The Cabinet Office minister and MP for West Dorset has now been forced to sign a written commitment promising to put changes in place and ensure that any documents containing personal data are disposed of in future in a secure manner. He has also agreed to ensure he complies with the Cabinet Office’s data-handling guidance. Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, said any further breaches could bring “formal enforcement action”.
Read more on The Guardian. The press release and undertaking do not seem to be up on the ICO’s web site yet at the time of this posting.
Updated 11-15-2011: Here are the press release and undertaking.