Failures in data protection have seen Greater Manchester Police hit with a £120,000 fine from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

The fine related to the loss of personal data from over 1,000 people following the theft of a memory stick, including information relating to serious crimes.

An investigation from the ICO found that the force used no encryption, had no restrictions on downloading information from police computers and had insufficient data protection training for staff.

David Smith, ICO Director of Data Protection, said: “This is a substantial monetary penalty, reflecting the significant failings the force demonstrated. We hope it will discourage others from making the same data protection mistakes.”