Recover Lost Documents

Council chiefs in Suffolk, United Kingdom have apologized to nearly 3,000 people following the theft of a laptop computer containing personal data.

Tom Potter stated in his report on EADT24 that Suffolk Coastal has suspended work with the contractor responsible for the potential loss of information, which was stored on a laptop stolen from the home of an employee.

The unencrypted data refers to license applications submitted by pubs, taxi ranks, festivals and fete organizers and also has details of people who had responded to consultations about licensed premises.

Geraldine Pearce, a self-employed bookmaker who was affected by the security lapse, voiced her concerns in Potter’s article of how she can’t help but wonder how many other personal files are out there for people to look at and what can others do with the information within them.

According to the council, information contained on the stolen laptop includes personal data such as names and addresses of licensing applicants but it does not include any financial information.

Ray Herring, leader of Suffolk Coastal, stated that they have instructed the company to stop the work they were doing for them and that they are investigating what further action could be taken against them for this lapse in security.

The council has registered the names and addresses of those affected with CIFAS, a fraud prevention service and the Information Commissioner has also been notified of the data loss.