BSIA chief executive, David Dickinson, said: “Data protection safeguards are essential to any business in terms of the security of both the organisation itself and the customers that it serves.
“With identity fraud a spectre that continues to haunt both the public and private sectors, it is particularly important that data is disposed of securely by a professional information destruction company to ensure that any confidential waste does not fall into the wrong hands.
“However, the issues highlighted by the Information Commissioner have a resonance beyond that of just data security. The BSIA believes that security in its widest sense should be a matter of major priority for all CEOs.
“By ignoring the importance of security, an organisation lays itself open to all manner of risk in terms of damage to assets, people and reputation as well as potential downtime for the business itself. By taking an active interest in ensuring quality security solutions are in place, such risks will be minimised, protecting your staff and customers and potentially leading to long-term cost savings.”