Frances Gibb, Legal Editor
Fighting Fit
Win a fitness package worth more than £3,000
Navigation - link to other main sections from here
From
November 15, 2007
Doctors may be prosecuted if their laptops are stolen
Also in Law
Also in Business
Most Read
Skip Most ReadToday
- Tourists warned to stay away as Venice...
- The 100 Best Films of 2008
- Mumbai attacks - city fears five terrorists...
- The 20 greatest car chases in movie history
Focus Zone
Need to Know
Industry sectors news at a glance. Interactive heatmap, video and podcast
Social Entrepreneurs:
The inside track on current trends in the charity, not for profit and social enterprise sectors
James Bond:
Read our exclusive 100 Years of Fleming and Bond interactive timeline, packed with original Times articles and reviews
Business Travel:
Everything the Business Traveller needs to know to make a better trip
Popular Searches on Times Online
bollywood news
|
chess
|
dating
|
fantasy football 2008
|
fashion
|
london film festival 2008
|
mortgages
|
music
|
need to know
|
podcasts
|
recipes
|
redundancy
|
savings
|
sudoku
|
university guide
|
us election
|
wine
Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles
Cars
Skip Cars of the WeekSaab 9-3
05/2005
£13,500
Bentley Continental
08/2008
£109,950
Mini Cooper
2006
£10,750
Car insurance
Great car insurance deals online
Jobs
Skip Jobs of the Week
Director of systems development - server based gaming industry
£Excellent+ executive benefits
Torres and Partners
London
Head of International Programme
£49,229 - £62,035 pro rata
Charity Commission
London/Liverpool/Taunton
Project Director (m/f)
Alstom Power
Europe
Director Roles
Six Figure
Rolls Royce
Midlands/Europe
Properties
Great Dubai Investment Opportunities
From £89,950
Rushmore Condo's New Luxury Condo's In Manhattan
Great Investment, River Views
Upper Meadow Gerrards Cross Luxury houses and Apts
Special Offers now available
Holidays
Skip Travel of the Week
Continental Airlines Vacation
New Year in the USA!
.
Funway Holidays Int Inc
Cruise the Islands of Hawaii - Pride of America
Advertise your holiday property online
List your property with two leading travel websites
Travel insurance
Great travel insurance deals online
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times, or place your advertisement.
Times Online Services: Dating | Jobs | Property Search | Used Cars | Holidays | Births, Marriages, Deaths
News International associated websites: Globrix | Property Finder | Milkround
Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
Would people like Paul Gray, whose department has just had the details of 7 million people go missing (and apparently not the first time either), or is this going to apply only to people who have a useful function in this world? Will the same rules apply if the GP is attacked and his laptop stolen, or his/her house broken into?
Bill Q, Derby,
This seems like a good idea - why not give Alistair Darling 60 days in jail and unlimited fine and his P45 for overseeing the loss of 25 million peoples child benefit records?
Needs to be made an example of.
Kevin Green, Glasgow, Scotland
Actually the real problem is that the laptops are not encrypted. As a GP I have continually argued that laptops with clinical information should be encrypted as it is not difficult. The standard encryption with windows is poor, relying on the user password, but there are more robust solutions available. However the response I get from IT departments is that it is not a requirement of CfH therefore they haven't the manpower or funding to spare for it. This is an understandable but short-sighted response. My own personal laptops are encrypted as are the flash drives I use. I have also encrypted servers I have built in my surgery, in case they are stolen. It is not difficult and this would become a non-issue if it were routinely done by the NHS.
Laptops are going to be stolen but in the current climate it is much easier to blame doctors, as this seems to be a national pastime. So much better to find someone to blame in our 'NHS blame' culture, rather than provide a workable solution
JW, Notts, UK
The loss of personal confidential information should indeed be prosecuted if this is due to incompetence or breaking regulations.
It would only seem fair that those who published the personal information on the junior doctors last year should be punished or the doctors awarded compensation.
Please remember this was not lost data but published and freely available once you had the url, surely far worse.
James, oxford,
Simply IDIOTIC!!! A good man who saves 1000's of lives is deemed for prosecution because a govt. funded jobless ciminal nicks the good tax-paying man's valuable possesion!
What has the world come too? Are we all slaves of criminals and the judiciary is rubbing fat into these warts of society!
Amit, Bristol, UK
Are they also going to prosecute the financial sector too or the government itself where they actually sold the data such as electorial roll or DVLC containing ex-directory telephone numbers etc ?
Lyn, Lancs, UK
Why are we prosecuting Doctors for having their laptops stolen. Why don't we do the sensible thing and arrest the people that are stealing the laptops. Surely that would make more sense - maybe its just me???
Gary Horlock, Crawley,
The real issue is that information on an individual might become lost to the state.
The threat of prosecution is a red herring, designed to frighten people into ensuring that confidential material is not lost.
This government has a policy of 'Control or Destroy', which applies to every facet of life, and every citizen in the country.
The Ministry of Injustice, under the man of straw, on behalf of this paranoid, corrupt government, is determined to have every bit of information on every individual that it possibly can.
The Orwellian nightmare was passed years ago, and the Information Commissioner but a toothless puppet.
martin brighton, sheffield, UK