The Information Commissioner’s Annual Report is launched today. Speaking at the launch Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, will say:

“Over the last year we have seen far too many careless and inexcusable breaches of people’s personal information. The roll call of banks, retailers, government departments, public bodies and other organisations which have admitted serious security lapses is frankly horrifying.”

“How can laptops holding details of customer accounts be used away from the office without strong encryption? How can millions of store cards fall into the wrong hands? How can online recruitment allow applicants to see each others’ forms? How can any bank chief executive face customers and shareholders and admit that loan rejections, health insurance applications, credit cards and bank statements can be found, unsecured in non-confidential waste bags?”

According to the report, the public’s awareness of data protection rights has risen to an all-time high of 82% and more and more people understand that personal information must be handled appropriately. To ensure personal information stays private, the Information Commissioner has called for stronger audit and inspection powers for his Office. Currently the ICO can only audit organisations’ information handling practices with their consent. The Commissioner wants the right to inspect and audit practices anywhere where poor practice is suspected.