Data breaches can have a devastating impact on people, do you know how to support your service users if they are affected by a data breach?
A personal data breach is where information that can be used to identify a person has been lost, damaged or disclosed when it shouldn’t have been.
A data breach can have a far reaching ripple effect that can disrupt lives. For those in already difficult circumstances, the effects can be devastating and life-altering.
It can be really overwhelming to know where to look for information and what to do next. When people don’t know where to turn, they often turn to voluntary organisations, but would you know how to help them?
NEW RESOURCES FROM THE ICO
Would you know what to do if someone who uses your services was concerned that their personal information had been shared without good reason?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator, wants to make sure you have the information you need to help them. Your support can help people feel reassured, understand their rights, and make informed decisions about what to do next if they are affected by a data breach.
With this in mind the ICO has created a suite of resources that sets out people’s options if they’re affected by a data breach. You can use this to quickly give advice or you can share it with the person so they have it for future reference.
WHAT’S AVAILABLE
These new resources include:
- A simple one page poster that explains next steps
- New detailed guidance on the ICO website, I’m worried my information has been shared and I’m worried about how an organisation has handled my information, what should I do?
STOPPING THE RIPPLE
Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with the information and save it for future use.
You can help to stop the ripple effect on someone’s life.
For more information, visit www.ico.org.uk/RIPPLE