26 02, 2024

How long should I keep staff records?

"How long should I keep staff records?" is a frequent question we get asked. The answer is not straightforward as you have to consider current staff and previous staff and the type of records that are being maintained. Data Protection Legislation, including GDPR, sets out that you should not retain information for longer than necessary but you also need to consider the prospect of a legal or insurance claim and therefore retain the documents [...]

2 03, 2020

Are you classifying your information?

When we talk about how long to keep information, we should also be considering the sensitivity of that information. Can you identify information which is confidential and should be restricted access from other information? For example, personnel records would be considered confidential information. They would have access restricted to those who need to know. So how are you marking those records to provide that information? It's easy with paper records, you can just mark [...]

24 02, 2020

How secure are your records?

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has fined the Door Step Dispensaree £275,000 for failing to deal securely with paper records. There are some interesting elements to this case. The fine was for the lack of security over paper records. A reminder to organisations that the legislation doesn't just relate to electronic information. Concerns about the security of information were reported to the ICO by the Medicine and healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It was [...]

4 02, 2018

How long should I keep records?

It's a common question - How long should we retain records? The answer depends on a whole range of things. The General Data Protection Regulation states that information should not be kept for longer than required. Sounds simple. But how long should you keep files? Accountancy records are 7 years but what about something like a display screen equipment assessment? There is a judgement to be made around the files a business holds where [...]

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