Call to eliminate 'human error' causing Guernsey data breaches

Of the 36 breaches in July and August, 13 involved email

A regulator has called on Guernsey businesses to take steps to mitigate "human error" in data handling.

There were 36 data breaches between July and August involving island businesses and organisations, according to the latest statistics from the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA).

Of these, 22 breaches occurred when personal information was sent to the wrong person by email or post.

One of the breaches was from an organisation which sent a "lengthy health report about a child, via post, to the wrong family", the regulator said.

The ODPA encouraged "all local businesses and organisations to take action on these preventable incidents which so often arise due to human error".

A spokesman said: "In extreme cases, a personal data breach can cause lasting harm to the people whose data has been breached, not to mention the reputational damage that can be done to the organisations responsible for what went wrong."