WEEE system ‘should be more transparent’

Published on 26 February 2012.

Complaints have been lodged by councils over a lack of transparency with regard to the WEEE system.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) system needs to be made “fairer and more transparent”, according to local authorities.

This is according to a report at letsrecycle.com which claimed several councils feel more clarity is needed with regard to regulations concerning the operation of civic amenity sites.

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “The existence of these third party compliance schemes can see the funding lost to those who are doing the leg work and the relationship between the effort and reward can be diminished.”

The issue has been raised following claims by the body that there is a current imbalance between “effort and reward” for WEEE recycling.

In a bid to prevent local authorities from attempting to extract value from goods by selling them for scrap, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills recently wrote to councils to remind them of their obligations under the WEEE code of practice.

Posted by Otto Greenberg

Govt warns councils about WEEE payments

Published on 23 February 2012.

The government has issued a letter to local authorities reminding them of WEEE regulations and practices.

Councils have been warned about attempting to seek extra payments for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has sent a warning letter to local authorities following a number of complaints about demands for additional cash from producer compliance schemes (PCS).

In response to the concerns that have been raised, the government body instructed councils they are not permitted to transport and treat WEEE independently with the aim of “selling evidence”.

It was suggested some authorities had been diverting goods in a bid to increase revenue by exchanging it for scrap.

“You and your onsite contractors must make all separately collected WEEE deposited at designated collection facilities available to a PCS without charge,” the letter added.

WEEE regulations place legal obligations on organisations that handle electrical equipment, including producers, distributors, business end-users, WEEE treatment facilities and exporters.

Posted by Salma Davidson

WEEE recycling bins introduced in Southwark

Published on 22 February 2012.

A new collection of WEEE recycling bins have been introduced in the London borough of Southwark.

New waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling bins have been introduced in the London borough of Southwark.

Waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services has placed six of the units across the area, according to community website London SE1.

The recycling banks are designed to make it easier for local residents to dispose of their unwanted small electrical goods in an environmentally-friendly way.

Individuals can leave goods that are either in fully working order, or broken and non-operational.

Items that will be accepted include radios, kettles, hair dryers, laptops, mobile phones, computer keyboards and electrical tools.

The bins can be located at Mint Street Park, Dog Kennel Hill, Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Bel Air Park, Camberwell Green and Peckham Rye Park.

Elsewhere, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills recently launched a new campaign to promote WEEE recycling.

The initiative follows research which estimates 1.3 million old gadgets will be disposed of in 2012.

Posted by Otto Greenberg

ONR loses unencrypted USB memory stick

Published on 21 February 2012.

A memory stick belonging to the ONR has been lost in a data security breach.

An internal investigation has been launched following a data security breach at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The BBC reports how an employee lost an unencrypted USB pen drive that contained information about a nuclear site in north-east England.

Although the memory stick did not contain “significantly sensitive” data, it did feature a stress test safety assessment of the Hartlepool plant.

An ONR spokesman explained how a most of the details are now in the public domain and so the real issue is why the device contained the information.

“The use of unencrypted USB pen drives is not permitted by ONR for transporting documents with a security classification.

“An internal investigation has been undertaken by ONR,” the representative stated.

The ONR is an agency of the Health and Safety Executive and aims to protect society from the hazards of the nuclear industry by ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.

Posted by Otto Greenberg

Facebook hacker jailed for 8 months

Published on 20 February 2012.

A judge has sentenced a man found guilty of hacking into Facebook to eight months in prison.

A man from York has been sentenced to eight months in jail after admitting breaching data security restrictions to access restricted information on Facebook.

Programming student Glenn Mangham was found guilty of hacking into the social networking site.

The 26-year-old argued that he had accessed Facebook’s servers in a bid to show the site and others such as Yahoo how to improve its security.

Handing down the sentence, judge Alistair McCreath said: “You accessed the very heart of the system of an international business of massive size, so this was not just fiddling about in the business records of some tiny business of no great importance.”

However, he acknowledged Mr Mangham was not attempting to steal any information from the site.

The news comes after independent information technology security consultant Kevin Wharram recently warned that hacking and cybercrime is set to become increasingly commonplace in 2012.

Posted by Salma Davidson

WeeeCare wins Hampshire recycling contract

Published on 20 February 2012.

Hampshire County Council has announced WeeeCare as the new company responsible for WEEE recycling across the region.

The recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Hampshire is to be dealt with by WeeeCare under a new contract.

According to letsrecycle.com, the local council has awarded the company a five-year deal to treat the WEEE collected at 26 household recycling centres in the county.

More than 7,500 tonnes of waste electrical items are expected to be handled by the organisation each year.

Councillor Mel Kendal, executive member for environment and transport, said: “We are pleased to be working with WeeeCare as their processes and commitment to responsible recycling match our own aspirations to ensure as much household waste as possible is recycled or reused.”

Among the items that will be collected are laptops, fridges, freezers, TVs and small goods like mobile phones.

Along with WEEE, WeeeCare deals with hazardous, chemical, packaging, battery, fluorescent tube, printing and dry cleaning waste products removed from homes and businesses.

Posted by Salma Davidson

ICO issues £80k fine to Cheshire East Council

Published on 17 February 2012.

Cheshire East Council has been prosecuted following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.

Data security failures by Cheshire East Council have led to the body being issued with a £80,000 fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The local authority was found to have been in serious breach of the Data Protection Act when an email containing sensitive information was circulated to 180 unintended recipients.

A council employee sent the original email from a personal account and outlined information about an individual working in the area, who the police force were monitoring.

Head of enforcement Stephen Eckersley acknowledged that it is “vitally important” for genuine concerns about people in the voluntary sector to be circulated to relevant parties.

However, he added: “A robust system must be put in place to ensure that information is appropriately managed.”

Elsewhere, the ICO recently fined Powys County Council £130,000 for releasing details of a child protection case to the wrong recipient after two reports were mistakenly mixed up.

Posted by Otto Greenberg

Laptop theft leads to fears of security breach

Published on 15 February 2012.

Customers of an Irish telecommunications company have been warned about a possible data security breach.

Irish company Eircom has warned of a potential data security breach after three laptops were stolen.

Unencrypted information was held on the devices putting a 6,845 customers’ details at risk.

Two laptops were stolen from the organisation’s Parkwest Offices in Dublin, between December 28th and January 2nd, with the third taken on December 19th from an employee’s home.

Eircom has claimed most of the data held on the devices were the names, addresses and telephone numbers of eMobile and Meteor customers.

However, other more sensitive information included passport and driving licence details needed to support applications.

Data protection commissioner Billy Hawkes criticised the company for being slow to inform the Irish Data Protection organisation of the breach.

“Our normal delay in getting reports in is 24 – 48 hours, which is our guideline for reports of such incidents,” he stated.

Eircom is the principal provider of fixed-line telecommunications services in Ireland.

Posted by Salma Davidson

ICO hands 2 councils £180k fine for security breach

Published on 14 February 2012.

A data security breach has led to two councils receiving a fine totalling £180,000.

Croydon Council and Norfolk County Council have been fined a total of £180,000 for data security breaches pertaining to the welfare of children.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found the pair guilty of failing to keep highly sensitive details secure.

Head of enforcement Stephen Eckersley commented: “While both councils acted swiftly to inform the people involved … this does not excuse the fact that vulnerable children and their families should never have been put in this situation.”

A £100,000 penalty was handed to Croydon local authority after a bag of papers relating to the care of a child sex abuse victim was stolen from a pub.

Meanwhile, the disclosure of information about allegations of parental failure in a child’s welfare to the wrong recipient led to Norfolk County Council receiving an £80,000 fine.

The news comes after the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham recently reminded local authorities it is their responsibility to ensure they keep people’s personal details secure.

Posted by Otto Greenberg

ACPO announces launch of 3 cyber crime hubs

Published on 13 February 2012.

Three cyber crime hubs will be established in the East Midlands, north-west and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Cyber crime hubs are to be launched at three sites across the UK in a bid to tackle data security breaches.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) announced the initiative, explaining how £30 million has been granted for the project by the government.

This will be delivered over a four-year programme aimed at improving national capability to investigate and combat this type of crime, which is viewed as a ‘tier one’ threat alongside international terrorism.

Regional e-crime co-ordinator for East Midlands deputy chief constable Peter Goodman commented: “We know that increasingly criminal networks are seeking to exploit cyber space for profit and we have a duty as police leaders to respond to protect individuals and communities.”

The hubs will be based in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the north-west.

Last week, the ACPO announced its support for Safer Internet Day 2012 and urged parents to monitor their children’s use of the web so they remained free from exploitation.

Posted by Salma Davidson