Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been fined £150,000 after unencrypted DVDs containing sensitive interviews with victims of violent and sexual crimes were lost in the post. The DVDs, sent to the National Crime Agency's serious crime analysis department via recorded delivery, were never received and have not been found.
An investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that GMP failed to keep the highly sensitive personal information secure and lacked appropriate measures to prevent accidental loss, breaching data protection law. The ICO noted that GMP had been sending unencrypted DVDs by recorded delivery since 2009, only stopping after the 2015 loss.
Sally Anne Poole, ICO enforcement group manager, criticised GMP's attitude, stating: 'When people talk to the police they have every right to expect that their information is handled with the utmost care and respect. Greater Manchester police did not do this... GMP was cavalier in its attitude to this data and it showed scant regard for the consequences.'
This is not the first such penalty for GMP; in 2012, the force was fined £150,000 after an unencrypted USB stick containing details of 1,075 people was stolen from a detective's home. Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said the DVDs were sent in line with national guidance, but procedures have since been reviewed, and postal delivery is no longer used for sensitive information. He stressed that victims have been kept informed and are receiving support.
