One might think that if several months have passed since an embarrsing data breach and nothing has happened, it’s all cool. One can relax, mind their own business and forget all about security.

That’s not the case if we’re talking UK health authority. Namely, London-based Camden Primary Care Trust. They thought, sometime last August, that dumping PCs containing 2,500 patients’ names, addresses and medical histories beside a skip inside the grounds of St Pancras Hospital was a good idea. They might reconsider now, as the Information Commissioner’s Office has given Camden Primary Care Trust until the end of the month to improve security, consequence of its breaching the Data Protection Act.

According to the Register, “data on the obsolete computers was left unencrypted. The machines were subsequently swiped without authorisation and never recovered”. Given such gross negligence and obvious proof of being completely irresponsible, I cannot help being extremely happy they are forced to do something about their security!

As more and more data breaches are revealed and debated online, the number of victims of such incidents increases. From never-ending sales calls to having items charged on your card to seeing credit ratings go down the drain to identity theft, these people are the ones who feel the most powerful consequences, not the companies where the breaches occur.

So what are these people to do to protect themselves and get back to how things were? In what credit ratings are concerned, UK victims are advised to use the Data Protection Act to rebuild them. According to E-Victims org, a former support group for cybercrime victims quoted by the Register, even after establishing fraud and absolving themselves of liability to fraudulent debt, data breach victims still have poor credit ratings.

As credit agencies rely on data from lenders, not on corrections communicated by those who borrow money, the organization says the Act could be used to force lenders to correctly communicate the status of fraud and data breach victims. Otherwise, even if they get a new credit, victims of such breaches will still have to pay higher interest rates. The Register also directs victims to a factsheet published by E-Victims.org aimed to help them with their credit reports.