Digital Skills Education

“If you collect information about individuals for any reason other than your own personal, family or household purposes, you need to comply” – Information Commissioner’s Office

Personal data is something which identifies a living person but also relates to them. It tells you something about them.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

• Name, Address, Phone Number, Email Address, … Some PII is classified as sensitive data
• Medical Records, Bank Account Details, NI Numbers, Memberships Data Protection covers all PII, sensitive and nonsensitive.

Sensitive Data – This might cause harm to the person if it were to be released (medical information, credit card details, where they live).

Data Protection rules apply to all Personal Identifiable Information (PII) you store, whether it’s sensitive or not.

Identify what personal data you hold about people and why you’re holding it.

Think about what you need it for and how long you should keep it.

You can keep personal data you need for as long as it’s necessary to do so.

Only keep the data you actually need and securely dispose of any you no longer require. The less personal data you have, the less information will be at risk of a personal data breach.

By law, you need to report a personal data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) without any delay and within 72 hours.

If you think you’ve had a personal data breach, perhaps an email has been sent to the wrong person, a laptop was stolen, or you’ve lost files – and you are worried about what to do next, the ICO can help.

When reporting a breach, you should give as much detail as possible and be as accurate as you can. The ICO will use the information you provide to decide what should happen next.

Encryption is a tool that can be used to protect all the files, photos, videos, and other documents on your computer.

It’s best to encrypt the whole drive on your laptop than individual files.

Encryption is built in: Window’s is BitLocker and Apple is FileVault. Your password is important for these. Don’t make it easy to guess but don’t forget it. If you lost the password there is no way of accessing the hard drive and you will only be able to wipe it. Once encryption is turned on, there is no way anyone can access the files or information on it.

How to turn on encryption on a laptop (Windows and macOS)

How to encrypt phones, tables, and USB drives

To avoid loss or theft of personal data, put any printouts or devices away at the end of the day.

Make sure all of your devices lock when they are left unattended.

Try to hold conversations where people are less likely to overhear you and position your screen where it won’t be seen by others.

If travelling with printed documents, make sure you keep them secure by storing them in a folder and keeping it with you. Only print something if you absolutely need to.

Use cross-cutter shredders to destroy any papers. In an office setting, it’s likely you can use confidential waste bins.