Information

Information Posts

Information Commissioner’s Office issues BYOD reminder

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Data Protection, Information, News

Information Commissioner’s Office issues BYOD reminder

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a New Year reminder to firms that they risk breaching data protection laws if they do not have clear guidelines for staff using their own devices to store work-related personal information. The ICO has published a guide for employers on developing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Recommendations in the guide include ensuring devices are encrypted and password protected; making sure data is only transferred...

Read More »

Broadband grant scheme rolled out

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Information, News, Technology

Broadband grant scheme rolled out

Small and medium-sized firms in Belfast, Salford, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Derby, Bristol, Edinburgh, Newport, London and Manchester can apply for grants of up to £3,000 to install faster broadband services at their premises. The roll out of the Connection Voucher Scheme, which is part of the Government’s Urban Broadband Fund, follows a successful two-month market test in August 2013. The aim of the Scheme is to improve digital connectivity, create new business...

Read More »

ONS report on e-commerce published

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Information, Technology, Websites

ONS report on e-commerce published

Total sales via e-commerce represented 18% of business turnover in 2012, down from 19% in 2011, according to a report published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figures include sales made by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Sales made via websites represented only 6% of total business turnover in 2012 and the ONS figures also revealed that the total value of website sales reached £164 billion in 2012, up from £92 billion in 2008. If you are looking for...

Read More »

BIS report finds ‘problem with demand’ for mentors

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Information, News, Training

BIS report finds ‘problem with demand’ for mentors

A report published by the Department for Business (BIS) has revealed that only 5% of small businesses have used a mentor in the past 12 months. The ‘Demand for mentoring among SMEs’ report found that almost half of small firms who had used a mentor would not be interested in doing so again, and that 44% believed that mentors who provide support for free would not be of help to them. The report concluded that ‘there is a clear problem on the demand...

Read More »

Temporary staff ‘must receive data protection training’

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Information, News

Temporary staff ‘must receive data protection training’

Employers must ensure that temporary staff who regularly process personal information receive adequate data protection training, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has warned. The warning follows recent data breaches at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, where letters including information about patients’ treatment were sent to incorrect addresses by temporary workers who had not received sufficient data protection training. Sally Anne Poole, ICO...

Read More »

New regulations set out deadline for dealing with website comments

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 in Business, Information, Technology

New regulations set out deadline for dealing with website comments

New regulations outlining the process to be followed by website publishers who receive complaints about comments posted on their sites will come into force on 1st January 2014. Under the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations, publishers will be required to contact comment authors to inform them of a complaint and give them five days either to consent to the removal of their comment, or provide the publisher with their contact details to be passed to the...

Read More »