Skip to main content

Government Departments: Data Security

Volume 709: debated on Tuesday 24 March 2009

Question

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government in each year for which figures are available, how many breaches of data security involving Ministers or civil servants occurred; and in which departments those Ministers or civil servants were based. [HL1930]

The reporting of data security breaches is the individual responsibility of government departments. Following the publication of the data handling report on 25 June 2008, there is a requirement on departments to report on information risk in their annual resource accounts and this includes reporting on data security incidents. The first such reports were published by departments following the end of the 2008-09 reporting year.

Comprehensive information on the numbers and nature of data security breaches by departments is not held centrally.

Copies of the data handling report are available in the Library.