The Information Commissioner is calling on UK chief executives to protect their customer and employee data more stringently.

Richard Thomas’s call to action follows a string of high-profile data security breaches including Orange, Barclays and Nationwide.

There have been far too many careless and inexcusable breaches of people’s personal information over the last year, he says.

‘The roll call of banks, retailers, government departments, public bodies and other organisations which have admitted serious security lapses is frankly horrifying,’ said Thomas.

The Commissioner wants business and public sector leaders to take their data protection obligations more seriously by giving the topic more priority in every UK boardroom.

He recommends stronger audit and inspection powers for his office to audit organisations’ information handling practices without their consent where poor practice is suspected.

The Information Commissioner’s annual report, published today, noted almost 24,000 enquiries and complaints concerning personal information in 2006/7.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has prosecuted 16 individuals and organisations in the last 12 months and two Parliamentary inquiries have started following the Commissioner’s call for a debate on the UK’s surveillance society’.

The ICO has now received almost 6,000 complaints under the Freedom of Information Act and has closed over 75 per cent of those.

Following changes within the ICO, 82 per cent more cases were closed in 2006/7 than in the previous 12 months.