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1 in 5 small businesses neglecting data protection rules

As many as one in five UK small businesses routinely fail to comply with the Data Protection Act, with many placing themselves and their customers at risk of online fraud and ID theft as a result of not keeping sensitive information secure.

That is according to a new study carried out by the national standards body BSI, which found that many smaller organisations are too preoccupied with economic issues to properly protect their data.

Of those polled, 65 per cent admitted that they have yet to thoroughly train their employees in the laws concerning data protection, with a significant proportion sharing data with third parties even though they believe this could be in breach of the current legislation.

Commenting on the findings, the BSI's director of standards, Mike Low, said: "These organisations are handling vast amounts of personal information on a daily basis and while it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place this survey clearly shows that there is still a long way to go."

News of the study comes shortly after it was reported that the Pensions Trust lost a laptop containing the personal data of around 109,000 charity workers.

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