The Identity and Passport Service has dismissed 14 people over the last three years, most for abusing access to the passport database.
Of 16 cases where data protection was breached, all but one involved members of staff who had legitimate access to the Passport Application Support System database, and who used this for unauthorised checks not related to their duties. The other case involved a contractor misusing data to which he had legitimate access.
I think this bit is meant to be reassuring:
IPS said it employs more than 4,000 staff, and the majority need access to personal data to carry out their work. “The fact that the systems IPS has in place have identified just 16 instances of unauthorised access over the past three years, and these resulted in 14 dismissals, is testament to the way in which the agency protects its data and the seriousness with which it views breaches,” said a spokesperson.
There will be 330,000 authorised Contactpoint users, so let’s see… 16 out of 4,000 is 4 per 1,000… That would mean 1,320 improper accesses to Contactpoint in a 3-year period would be testament to how seriously the PTB view breaches.
The ARCH Blog 