Data Protection
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases of (a) data loss and (b) breaches of confidentiality have occurred in his Department since January 2012.

David Lidington (Minister of State (Europe and NATO), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Aylesbury, Conservative)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a formal procedure for reporting, investigating and monitoring any incidents involving the loss or compromise of personal data for which it is responsible. According to our records, since 1 January this year, there have been two incidents involving the loss of data and four involving a breach of confidentiality. None were considered significant enough to report to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The FCO takes its data handling responsibilities very seriously. Our policies and procedures are designed to ensure that we are compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and HMG’s Security Policy Framework. All our staff, including those who work for our delivery partners, have a responsibility to manage personal data effectively and securely in line with those policies and procedures. Training in data handling is mandatory for all staff.