Data boss slams security flaws

8 Apr 2010

The Irish data protection commissioner has called on the country's health service to improve data security as a matter of urgency.

The call was made after Billy Hawkes revealed his department had investigated 900 complaints about breaches in the last year. While the number was down slightly on the 2008 figure, reported violations of laws on the issue went up by 50%.

In particular, Mr Hawkes criticised the Health Service Executive and energy supplier Bord Gáis for losing laptops that were either unencrypted or had sub-standard security measures.

He also had harsh words for train company Iarnród Éireann, to whom two legal enforcement notices were issued.

Mr Hawkes has previously criticised what he sees as "the reluctance of some State bodies to take sufficient account of data protection issues".