Security threats Toolkit

Councils sack staff over misuse of DWP data

Kable

Published: 10 Aug 2009 12:05 BST

Local authorities have dismissed employees who viewed personal data on the Department for Work and Pensions' Customer Information System (CIS).

Cardiff Council confirmed it had dismissed an employee for looking at CIS data on celebrities, while the London Borough of Brent said it terminated an agency worker's contract over unauthorised data access.

Brent said everyone accessing the CIS on its behalf must first sign an agreement not to access data except to check housing-benefit claims, and that unauthorised use could lead to dismissal.

Computer Weekly used Freedom of Information requests on councils to uncover information on the misuse of the CIS data. Its research found that staff at 34 local authorities had wrongly accessed the system between 2006 and 2009, with nine dismissals.

Other incidents led to staff resigning, being suspended, receiving a warning or being suspended from CIS access. In none of the cases disclosed was a member of staff prosecuted.

The DWP said it could not confirm the incidents, as they are a matter for councils.

A spokesperson added: "The small number of breaches shows that the CIS security system is working and is protected by several different audit and monitoring controls, which actively manage and report attempts at unauthorised or inappropriate access.

"It is the duty of local authorities to consider and enforce what is appropriate, including legal action, against their employees."