ICO slams council for dumping confidential information in skip

Wolverhampton City Council signs undertaking after breaching Data Protection Act

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has reprimanded a local council that allowed confidential personal information to be disposed of in a skip.

Wolverhampton City Council breached the Data Protection Act and this was made public by a local newspaper in October 2010.

The newspaper reported that council documents containing names, dates of birth, bank details, employment records and medical information had been dumped in a skip at a local community leisure centre.

The council had established a contract with a waste management company to securely dispose of personal data, but council employees had failed to recognise the confidential nature of the information when they disposed of it.

As a result, Simon Warren, chief executive of Wolverhampton City Council, has been made to sign an undertaking to ensure that staff are made aware of the council's policies on data protection and confidential waste management.