The Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) has published its latest breach statistics and emphasised the need for local organisations to continue positively engaging with their legal duties around how they handle people’s data.
Twenty-one personal data breaches were reported to the ODPA in the two months leading up to 31st August 2020. Just over half of these (12 incidents) happened when personal data was accidentally sent to the wrong person by email and the next highest figure was composed of instances where data was sent to the incorrect recipient by post, which totalled just under a fifth (4 incidents).
The 21 breaches were split across a variety of sectors, with the bulk of the incidents stemming from public authorities (6), retail/wholesale (5) and legal (3). There were also two breaches which originated from employment agencies and the remaining number were split evenly across five other sectors.
This period’s reported breaches are the lowest on record. On the face of it this implies a positive shift – fewer reported data breaches could be the result of increased awareness of the importance of preventing data breaches from happening in the first place, leading to fewer data harms occurring. Equally the opposite could be true, the low number of reported breaches could indicate under-reporting, a lack of engagement in looking after people’s data well, and data harms going undetected.
Emma Martins, the Bailiwick’s Data Protection Commissioner, commented: “Whilst on the one hand we welcome the low numbers of breaches, we also recognise that our reporting figures are unlikely to reflect the true picture. Some organisations will suffer breaches but not be aware of them, and others may be aware but not report them. Awareness of, and ability to respond to data breaches is essential for all organisations; not just because there is a legal duty to report them to the ODPA, but importantly because data governance is inextricably linked to business success. Organisations thrive on trust and confidence, so the way they look after people’s information is critical in building and maintaining both. We work hard to support and encourage the regulated community to deliver the highest standards of data protection. We also recognise that things do go wrong and that by engaging positively with organisations, we hope they will continue to trust us to handle breach reports in a constructive way and one which seeks to learn and improve.”
Effective breach management is an essential part of data governance for all organisations and the reporting of breaches that meet the threshold is a statutory requirement.
It is important to remember that behind the breach statistics there are human beings who have potentially been significantly affected. Because of this it is crucial that organisations carefully consider the impact on the people whose data has been affected when assessing the level of risk. Organisations must have robust mechanisms in place for accurately reviewing the possible impact and the risk level associated with each individual breach, appreciating that the risk may not necessarily be obvious and may not manifest itself immediately.
