Data loss law passed by Lords
New legislation which might make losing customers’ personal data a criminal offence has been passed by the House of Lords, ZDNet.co.uk reports.
The amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill was introduced by Liberal Democrat Peer Lady Miller - and seeks to cover anyone who disclosed information to the public "recklessly".
This follows two recent high-profile security breaches from HSBC and HM Revenue & Customs, in which the personal data of millions of Britons was accidentally lost.
Following the Lords vote, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said that the government would now consider making the new offence law.
"The government has previously acknowledged that it needs to improve trust and confidence in the arrangements to protect personal data and is currently in the process of doing this," he said.
Research from the government, released last week, shows that overall security breaches have fallen by a third since 2006 - but that spending on shoring up data security has been trebled over the same period.
