Former Health Worker fined £1,715 for obtaining and disclosing personal data
A former health care assistant has been ordered to pay a total of £1,715 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to offences of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing personal data. The Information Commissioner(ICO) said that the assistant had accessed the medical records of 29 people without a business purpose to do so. Some of the information was subsequently shared with others. That was a breach of patient confidentiality and an unlawful act under the Data Protection Act. The ICO points out that those who work with personal data need to know that they can’t just access it or share it with others when they feel like it and the employer’s policy should make that clear. We often make the point on our #DataProtection training courses that this law is not vacuum packed from other laws such as the Human Rights Act. All personal information can lead to intrusions and interferences with people’s private lives. That can be distressing and damaging for individuals. It can give th