Tier one and two councils throughout England and Wales are expected to connect to a secure government network, enabling protected links with other organisations. A deadline of 31 March was set for councils to comply with security standards allowing them to use the Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSx).
But figures show 76 of 375 councils have still failed to do so. Government forecasts predict that by the end of this month 66 authorities will still not be compliant with GCSx. The statistics have prompted concerns that councils are not up to speed on security ahead of ContactPoint's launch.
Terri Dowty, policy director at Action on Rights for Children, said: "This information could fall into the hands of people who shouldn't have it. It has implications for ContactPoint and all the other systems for sharing information on children."
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