Council officer ordered to pay £900+ after accessing social care records without authorisation

A former Reablement Officer at Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council has been prosecuted by the Information Commissioner’s Officer for accessing social care records without authorisation.

The ICO said an internal investigation by the council found that Dannyelle Shaw of Bloxwich, Walsall, had inappropriately accessed the social care records of 7 adults and 9 children without any business need to do so.

Shaw appeared before Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court and admitted one offence of unlawfully obtaining personal data, in breach of s55 of the Data Protection Act 1998.

She was sentenced to a fine of £450, ordered to pay costs of £364 and a victim surcharge of £45.