Is it safe?

In late September 2016, Yahoo confirmed to a stunned world that the personal details of approximately 500 million users of its services were stolen by hackers. ⁽¹⁾ In a response to the data loss the UK's independent regulator for information and data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) stated: ‘… there is a sobering and important message here for companies that acquire and handle personal data. People's personal information must be securely protected under lock and key – and that key must be impossible for hackers to find.’ ⁽²⁾

Although the troubles of a large multi-national company may seem far removed from the challenges faced by a local dental practice, the obligations of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 apply equally to both company types. In its website report on data security incident trends the ICO states: ‘The health sector continued to account for the most data security incidents. This is due to the combination of the NHS making it mandatory to report incidents, the size of the health sector, and the sensitivity of the data processed.’⁽³⁾