Social work support officer prosecuted over data protection breaches
Nina Jacobs
Monday, December 9, 2019
A social services support officer has been prosecuted by the independent regulator for data protection after being caught illegally accessing social care records.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) brought a case against Michelle Shipsey, employed by the former Dorset County Council, after an internal investigation found she had inappropriately accessed confidential information.
It followed a complaint that Shipsey had discussed information about service users with parents at their children’s school.
The ICO said the social care records related to four individuals known to Shipsey.
Appearing before Poole Magistrates’ Court on 2 December, Shipsey admitted one offence of unlawfully obtaining personal data in breach of section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Shipsey was sentenced to a six-month conditional discharge, ordered to pay costs of £700 as well as a victim surcharge of £20.
The former county council, which was abolished in March under a restructure of local government in Dorset, began its own internal investigation after the data breach was discovered. However, Shipsey, of Verwood, Dorset, resigned before the council could bring any disciplinary action against her.
Jonathan Mair, Dorset Council’s corporate director and legal and democratic services monitoring officer, said the matter was then reported to the ICO, which led to its own investigation and subsequent prosecution.
“We have robust arrangements in place to safeguard personal information and all our staff receive training on protecting the information we hold," Mair said.
“It is extremely rare for someone to misuse their legitimate access to our systems for illegitimate reasons.
“If this does happen then we will take our own action and inform the Information Commissioner.
"In this instance it has resulted in Ms Shipsey losing her livelihood and gaining a criminal record.”
Hazel Padmore, ICO’s head of investigations, said Shipsey was “acutely aware” of the responsibilities she had in terms of maintaining client confidentiality.
“Our successful prosecution of this individual sends a clear message, that we will take action against individuals who take it upon themselves to abuse their position of trust,” she said.
