SIR – The news that Yorkshire loan firm Cattles has lost unencrypted tapes containing the personal details of 1.4 million people, including customers and staff, is deeply worrying.

With the media jumping on every example of a high-profile data breach, and the devastating impact such a breach can have on sales, brand reputation and customer trust, it is almost beyond belief that organisations are still failing to get their act together and stop such breaches from happening.

An organisation large enough to have more than a million customers should have policies and guidelines in place that ensure sensitive data is encrypted, protected and accounted for at every stage of its journey through the business. It is hardly surprising that the Information Commissioner’s Office is starting to hand out larger fines for data protection breaches. Every business has a duty to handle the personal information with which it is entrusted with care. Anything less is no longer acceptable.

Christian Toon, Head of Information Security Europe, Iron Mountain, 3rd Floor Cottons Centre, Tooley Street, London, SE1 2TT