Charities Are Required To Pay Attention To Data Security

Charities are vulnerable to new, stricter data protection laws that have recently been introduced

. These laws call for enhanced corporate governance and require a much stricter attention to information security for charities as a result. With Internet fraud a particular risk to charities and data always at risk, management is legally required to provide training to all of the staff on its books, whether they are full time or even just voluntary. Consequently some industry experts have developed a number of training modules to explain the situation to charities. Their status does not protect them from potential fines of up to 500,000 and even prison sentences. The Data Protection Act must be adhered to and the Information Commissioner wants to remind charitable organisations of the provisions of the new law, which came into force at the beginning of April, 2010.

New products provided by industry trainers have been checked by the Information Commissioner's Office and can be very advantageous to charities of every size. It's important to point out that there are opportunities as well as threats though, and note that compliance with the new legislation could help to make donors more loyal and significantly boost the amount of funding in future. Remember that information security requires you to look beyond credit card data security and be aware that all the data that you hold about employees, customers and other confidential information must be safeguarded. Charities must train their staff in information security and help to avoid fines, but if they look at it creatively they can use their efforts to positively improve donor loyalty and fund-raising efforts.

As of April 6, 2010, any organisation that breaches the requirements of the updated Data Protection Act can face fines of up to 500,000. If this wasn't bad enough it is estimated that the cost of a data breach can be as much as 65 per each record compromised. Just think of the number of records that you actually hold and it doesn't take much for you to imagine that the charity could be completely destroyed, financially, in serious cases. If any financial loss is incurred as a consequence of data theft, the charity may be forced to pay compensation to those affected. It's very important to be proactive in this area now, to avoid penalties that could ruin a smaller charity.

As an example, the Alzheimer's Society was unlucky enough to lose several laptops during a burglary of their office in Cardiff in 2009. The Information Commissioner was less than impressed and called the breaches "unacceptable." The laptops contained personal information including names, addresses, national insurance identification and details of the salaries drawn by the Society's 1000 staff members across the country. This is the first high-profile incident to be publicised and you can bet that the Society was particularly embarrassed by it, as well. You should do everything in your power to ensure that your charity is not the next!

by: Sarah Dougan

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