| 17 January 2012
In case you do not yet know, data destruction is not as easy as a toddler would excitedly verbalise the first three letters of the English Alphabets - A, B, C! It is an act, and at once a science; hence it requires the services of professionals to do it. No wonder a recent campaign by the Information Destruction (ID) section of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has recommended the importance of secure data destruction to HM Courts’ Service.
According to a BSIA source Magistrates’ Courts alone deal with around 95% of court cases each year, and the amount of personal data passing through each court on a daily basis is staggering, hence the BSIA’s recent campaign aimed to raise awareness among courts of the importance of employing a strict information destruction policy to avoid confidential information falling into the wrong hands.
Vigilance has learnt authoritatively that the apex Association for the British Security Industry has written to almost 450 courts across England and Wales, stressing the importance of European Standard EN15713, which outlines the minimum standards that information destruction suppliers should meet when destroying confidential data.
Mr Stuart Nicholls, Vice Chairman of the BSIA’s ID Section said: “While the BSIA would encourage all courts to specify the EN 15713 standard when procuring information destruction services, it has come to our attention that this isn't always the case, despite recommendations from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) that organisations disposing of information such as company records, financial data or customer details should follow internal company procedures or may wish to refer to EN 15713.”
With the Information Commissioner issuing fines of up to £500,000 for breaches of the Data Protection Act, courts are being reminded to act now to minimise the risk they face from non-compliance.
Nicholls added: “A court’s choice of information destruction supplier has a significant impact on the effectiveness of its data protection policy. As the trade association representing the UK’s private security industry, the BSIA is ideally placed to help any organisation find a reliable supplier that conforms to all the latest British and European standards relating to information destruction.”
Echoing Nicholls, a spokesperson for the BSIA said all members of the BSIA’s Information Destruction Section operate to extremely high standards, securely destroying a range of confidential information including paper, DVDs and computer hard-drives. All are inspected to the ISO 9001:2008 quality standard.
As part of the Association's members' commitment to keeping up to date with industry developments, the BSIA's Information Destruction section will be hosting its third annual ID conference and exhibition on the 30th May, in Birmingham. The event aims at sharing best practice amongst suppliers and service providers within the information destruction industry. For more information on the event visit the BSIA's website.