Data breach

[Carlie97]

At work one of my files fell out from my drawer containing personal details of customers. It remained under a desk for a time til a clear out and was found by another employee. Can I be sacked?

Potentially if it’s something your company classes as gross misconduct

Sacking sounds extreme for something like that! I think you're worrying unnecessarily. Unless your colleague photocopied everything and put it on the internet, this is minor.

Sackable yes. You weren’t even aware it was missing by the sounds of it.

Sacking would sound extreme for that.

But a few questions: are the clients vulnerable (for example are these clients of a software company or are they vulnerable people who are on a protection register). Is the person who found it a trouble maker who could cause issues for you, could they blow it out of proportion? Should it have been in your desk in the first place (or should it have been locked up safe somewhere else)?

Sacking would be very extreme. How sensitive was the data? Who might have had access to it? Have you reported it yourself?

I made an accidental breach once - stressed, rushing etc. I reported myself straight away. This was appreciated and I didn’t even get a slap the wrist, just a couple of advisories on what might help so it didn’t happen again.

It wasn't me boss. Somebody else must have been rummaging around in my desk and dropped it out.

You routinely store confidential files in a drawer that anyone can access?

That's far worse!

Depends what was contained in the file and who who found it and what they then did with it

How sensitive was the info, what sort of customers do you deal with, is the drawer supposed to be locked, what is the company policy on files and storage.

How long was it under the desk