The UK arm of Zurich Insurance have been fined £2.3 million for losing the personal data of 46,000 customers. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) report that this is the largest fine levied on a UK firm for Data Protection Act breaches.

According to Zurich, the data was lost during a routine transfer to their storage centre based in South Africa. The FSA's findings report that Zurich remained unaware of the data loss for over a year.

Fortunately for Zurich customers there is no evidence that their personal information has been misused.

Margaret Cole of the FSA was reported as saying "Firms across the financial sector would do well to look at the details of this case and learn from the mistakes that Zurich UK made." However the Data Protection Act covers all UK organisations making them responsible for the way that personal customer data is handled and as such Ms Cole's warning should ring true for all companies operating here.

For more information about obligations under the Data Protection Act check out our previous article here. If you would like to know more about your company's compliance status or you would like any advice on improving your data security, please do not hesitate to contact us.