A new study suggests that some small business insurance holders need to improve their data protection measures, it has been claimed.
BSI Group found that almost one in five small business insurance customers have accidently broken Data Protection Act, with almost half of these breaching it more than once.
In addition, a further 18 per cent of small business insurance holders are unaware if they have broken the legislation or not.
The study also revealed that 15 per cent are not certain if their data sharing activities are valid under the Data Protection Act, while 18 per cent believe the ongoing recession has made protecting information less of a priority.
Mike Low, BSI's director of standards, pointed out that a vast amount of personal data is held by the country's small business insurance holders.
He continued: "While it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place this survey shows that there is still a long way to go."
The Information Commissioner's Office recently published a review of the EU Data Protection Directive, suggesting that the guidelines will not be adequate in the long term.
