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T-Mobile data loss is probably the tip of the iceberg

Business | Technology

Politicians bluster with calls for tougher penalties for data protection breaches, and even Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio Two debates the issues with his audience, but we all have personal data out there in the hands on public and private entities. And it is becoming increasingly apparent that this data is not always safe. We all want our privacy protected but equally most of us accept that it is necessary, and indeed part of protecting our identities, to give that data to certain organisations. Now the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham is getting serious about clamping down on abuses.

The issue is both enabled and potentially solved by technology. Policies should be in place to protect access to and handling of the information held by public bodies, finance, telephony and utility companies, internet retailers or even political parties such as the recent case with the BNP. But the problem, as highlighted by T-Mobile, is that most organisations simply do not know when someone is accessing or potentially stealing data. And it’s not just personal data. In F1 and other industries it’s a question of protecting intellectual property.

In too many cases there is no policing of the policy and no effective technology to support the policy. But Dtex Systems (www.dtexsystems.com), a small technology business based in London but founded in Australia, provides a solution to both problems. Their concept of user risk management is unique in delivering the tools to define and then deliver an effective data protection policy for any organisation.

Only when organisations realise that users, as much as external hackers, represent a key risk to data and information protection will many of us feel safe with the ‘necessary evil’ of handing over such data.

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