London News council ‘failed’: On-street Islington borough CCTV, London N1 Photo by Mark Rowe Right: Claudia Webbe at Crayford Road, London N7 Photo courtesy of Islington Council 16 Fined for parking ticket data protection fault Islington Council has been fined £70,000 by the data protection regulator for a security failing on its parking ticket system website. The council’s TicketViewer system allows people to see a CCTV image or video of their alleged parking offence. It was found to have design faults meaning the personal data of up to 89,000 people was at risk of being accessed by others. That data included a small amount of sensitive personal information such as medical details relating to appeals. Problem The problem came to light in October 2015 when a user told the council that folders holding personal data could be accessed by manipulating the URL in the user’s browser. It turned out that there had been unauthorised access to 119 documents on the system 235 times from 36 unique IP addresses, affecting 71 people, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found. Sally Anne Poole, ICO Enforcement Manager, said: “People have a right to expect their personal information is looked after. Islington Council broke the law when it failed to do that. Local authorities handle lots of personal information, much of which is sensitive. If that information isn’t kept secure it can have distressing consequences for all those involved.” TicketViewer dates from 2012 and is hosted separately from other systems. It’s issued hundreds of thousands of tickets. Islington referred the case to the ICO; the ICO did not know of anyone actually suffering any hurt from the fault. The ICO said Islington should have tested the system before going live, and regularly after. p OCTOBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY Mayor’s appeal to Premier League The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is appealing to the Premier League for more money from football to police its matches. He has written to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore pointing out that safety comes at a cost, and policing is stretched, meaning that police front counters are closing. He wrote: “The presence of football clubs in our city and the associated policing implications are not taken into account in any of the Government’s funding mechanisms for the Met, and as such, we receive no funding from the taxes clubs pay.” While last year the Met spent around £6.7m on policing football matches in London, it received less than 5pc NET AGAINST HOSTILES The Met Police used new hostile vehicle mitigation equipment for the first time last month at the Naval Association Parade on Whitehall. The equipment takes the form of a road spread net with tungsten steel spikes. If a vehicle fails to stop and drives over the net, the spikes will puncture its tyres, and the net becomes tangled around the front wheels bringing the vehicle to a stop. The aim is also to ensure that a vehicle skids in a straight line reducing risk to bystanders. When the equipment is deployed, signs are placed in front and behind the net site advising both road users and pedestrians that there are spikes on the road and to follow instructions provided by officers. The net, referred to by officers as ‘Talon’ is likely to become a familiar sight at London of those costs back from clubs, Sadiq Khan said. He has asked for a meeting with the league, to ask if it ‘will step up and make a bigger contribution’. How much clubs have to pay for police at their matches has long been disputed. In 2008 the then Premier League club Wigan Athletic won an appeal against Greater Manchester Police. Terror The terror attack on the Stade de France in Paris in 2015 on the same night as the Bataclan massacre led to a new level of security at UK football grounds. Armed police were on high profile guard at Wembley Stadium for England’s World Cup qualifier against Lithuania, pictured, as featured in Professional Security in April. Searches of fans and bags at entry are more common. p events, police said. The net can be deployed by two officers in less than one minute and can the force says effectively stop a vehicle up to 17 tonnes. The speed and low manpower required for deployment means that the nets can be relocated very quickly if necessary. Barriers As featured in the August issue, hostile vehicle mitigation barriers have been installed on nine bridges and at other sites across the capital after the terrorist attacks at Westminster, and London Bridge. The barriers are a national asset and are for use around the UK. Chief Insp Nick Staley of the Met’s Protective Security Operations Unit said the equipment ‘undoubtedly has the potential to save lives’ at major events in London. p Bicycles can go hang After a trial of secure on-street bicycle parking in north London, Islington Council is set to roll it out across the borough. Known as Bikehangars, the covered, lockable units take up a single car parking space in the road; each one provides rental space for up to six bicycles. Two were installed last year in Crayford Road, Holloway, and Hanley Road in Tollington ward as part of a test. A waiting list has 600 residents who have requested a space in a unit, as a way of protecting bikes from the weather and theft, where storage space is at a premium. Islington councillor Claudia Webbe, executive member for environment and transport, said: “Bikehangars are a great solution for residents who want to make the most of the health and financial advantages of cycling but simply don’t have the space to store a bike at home. They not only provide peace of mind but should encourage more people to take up cycling, which is healthier and better for the environment.” p www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
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