ICO launches consumer online healthcheck

By: Admar Support Services  29/10/2008
Keywords: data, data capture, data processing

Consumers are being asked by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to exercise their Data Protection Act rights to help keep the amount of personal information held on them by organisations to a minimum. This call to action follows recent high profile data security breaches which have highlighted the risks where too much data is kept. To help consumers do more themselves the ICO has launched an online tool, the Personal Information Healthcheck. The healthcheck takes a few minutes to complete and provides advice on protecting personal information. Recent new research by the ICO shows that more people than ever are aware of the value of their personal information. However, although the ICO feels that people are more aware of data security, especially following the data breaches of the past year, it feels they are not asserting their rights under the Data Protection Act and putting their personal information at risk. 40% admitted that they would hand over their personal information to a company without checking whether the company could be trusted to handle their data correctly. 44% have never considered asking companies and organisations what information they hold. The Deputy Commissioner at the ICO, David Smith, commented: "Sometimes people have no choice but to provide personal details to organisations, yet the more information we provide, the greater the risk that it will become out of date, be held for too long, or fall into the wrong hands. It is time for more people to stand up and use the rights they have under the Data Protection Act. The more people that use their rights to check what information is held about them, the stronger the signal to organisations that the mismanagement of people’s personal details will not be tolerated." "In the current climate we are urging people to take the protection of their personal information even more seriously. Our healthcheck is suitable for everyone, whether they’ve never before thought about protecting their personal information or could just benefit from a few extra tips and ideas. Try and help protect yourself from identity crime." The Personal Information Healthcheck is available at: www.ico.gov.uk/infohealthcheck (Source: Direct Marketing Association - DMA)
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Keywords: data, data capture, data cleaning, Data Cleansing, data hosting, Data Hygiene, data processing, Data Supply, Data Suppression

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