From This is North Devon:
Sensitive personal data on a number of vulnerable families who use a specialist children’s centre in North Devon has been stolen.
The confidential information on 45 families was on a USB computer data stick.
It was lost when a member of staff at the Victoria House Children’s Centre in Barnstaple, had her bag stolen on Saturday.
Action for Children, the charity which runs the centre, says an internal investigation is now under way.
[…]
Action for Children says the breach affects 45 families, about two per cent of the centre’s total users.
They say it is an isolated incident and no one else has been affected.
They would not reveal which groups had been affected by the breach, but some of the family-orientated groups which run out of the centre include; the Baby Loss Support Group, Children’s Health Clinics, Confidential Counselling Services, Newborn Behaviour Observation and the North Devon Child Contact Centre.
Read more on This is North Devon.
This is one of those breaches that makes me feel sick inside when I think of how much sensitive data may not be out there and viewed by those who should have no access to such information. Even if the info is not misused, this type of breach can have a chilling effect on how much people are willing to share with providers.