Council laptops stolen

The six laptops, which are encrypted, were reported missing from the Dalziel building, Motherwell, at around 7.40am on Monday, July 16. The haul taken also included cash and three cameras.

North Lanarkshire Council would not comment on the nature of the date contained with the laptops but Cumbernauld and Kilsyth MSP Jamie Hepburn believes the matter should be fully investigated.

He has written to North Lanarkshire Council to demand details of how the incident was allowed to happen and the steps which the local authority will be taking to ensure that sensitive and private personal details are not allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

The council, however, says the latops are protected by security encryption.

Mr Hepburn said: “This is a matter of deep concern, which is why I have today written to the council to find out exactly how this happened.”

He added: “We don’t know what kind of data is on the laptops but any breach in security, particularly from council property, is distressing.”

And he added this was not the first data breach the council had suffered.

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said: “The laptops are fully encrypted to the highest standards to ensure data security.”