Six in 10 Brits have been put at risk of ID theft as a result of their employers’ lax approach to data security.
Shockingly, nine in 10 Brits say their workplace has not toughened up its data protection policy in light of recent data breaches by big business and government departments, or are unaware if they have. A charge to which 90% of bosses admit.
A quarter of bosses also confessed to taking their staff’s personal information out of the office. 19% admit to leaving employees’ personal information lying on their desks. 10% own up to storing sensitive material on USB sticks, and one in ten fail to shred staff members’ personal info.
A fifth of the UK’s employees say they don’t trust their employers to protect their personal information and two thirds say they’re unhappy with security procedures. 40% admit that they have no idea who at work has access to their personal data, according to the research by life assistance company, CPP.
Three quarters of employees felt that responsibility for data security should ultimately rest with employers, and the majority want to know exactly what measures will be put into place to protect their personal information.
Danny Harrison, identity theft expert from CPP, says: "The problem is so widespread that the Economist Intelligence Unit has reported that 85% of businesses have had at least one serious incident of data loss in the past year, a 22% increase since 2007."
CPP Top Tips for employees
- Do not tell other employees your own personal passwords
- Shred all documents containing sensitive personal information
- Do not take important documents out of the office
- Do not leave sensitive information lying on your desk
- Do not read confidential company documents on public transport
- Password protect all sensitive documents