data security

Question

our  clerk  and past councillors are suspected of a matter
we have just learnt that if the clerk changes some ones password on there email all historical documents and emails are deleted like wise if a councillor or the clerk deletes an email they dont want any one to see these can not be recovered , this seems contaray to ICO  and the need to keep records has any one else come across this  it feels very wrong  i had this when i left the council my emails remained when i rejoined same email address but new password every email and attachment was deleted

Answer 1

Your first issue is having a clerk that can unilaterally change a user password and fundamentally change data status in user account
That very much sounds like a fundamental flaw in IT security process.

Comments

it feels very much as you outlined data storage is so very cheap why would you not keep it with the exception of GDPR   she was glleful when she announced this

Answer 2

If a councillor or clerk deletes an email they don't want anyone to see after that information has been requested than that would be a criminal offence (under the FOI act).

If the information has not yet been requested then any deletion of records should be in accordance with the councils Data Retention Policy. This should state how long records should be kept for.

Comments

yes an excellent point wings need clipping

Answer 3

It was successfully covered up at the time but I know of a PC which suffered from a disgruntled employee deleting large amounts of data

I have always thought most organisations don’t take contingency planning seriously enough, as it doesn’t take long to just think what if x or y happens

As an example of poor practice a large charity with elderly trustees, paper records kept at private houses and no understudies

I have always been careful about storage and protection of my personal data which came in very useful when my house was trashed in an explosion and I had to rent a house for six months!