From the Information Commissioner’s Office:
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has taken action after a London estate agent continued to leave papers containing personal information on the street despite a previous warning.
On 11 December 2013, the ICO was informed that an outlet owned by Thamesview Estate Agents was leaving papers containing personal information in the street. The papers were stored in transparent bags and the information was clearly visible to anyone who walked past. The ICO warned the company that it must improve its compliance with the Data Protection Act by disposing of the information securely.
On 13 March 2014, the ICO was contacted by the original complainant and informed that the outlet was still leaving its customers’ information in the street.
The ICO found that the estate agent’s staff were not aware that they were acting in breach of the company’s guidance on the secure disposal of confidential waste. Thamesview Estate Agents also had no contract in place with the companies hired to securely dispose of their branches’ confidential waste.
ICO Head of Enforcement, Stephen Eckersley, said:
“Customers of Thamesview Estate Agents will be rightly concerned that their information was left on a street for all to see. The papers visible to the public included copies of customer’s passports and details of previous tax payments. This could be all a fraudster would need to steal someone’s identity.
“Despite a previous warning from our office, the company failed to address this issue. This is why we’ve served the business with an undertaking committing them to improving the way they handle their customers’ information.”
Thamesview Estate Agents have signed an undertaking committing the company to making sure that all of its branches keep the personal information of their customers secure. They must also introduce refresher training for all of their staff by 31 December 2014 and make sure that they have formal contracts in place with any companies responsible for destroying their customers’ information.