Serial snooper guilty of data theft

A former manager of a doctors’ practice in Maidstone has been found guilty of unlawfully accessing patients’ data after the court heard how he spied on the details of hundreds of women in their 20s and 30s.
Appearing at Maidstone Magistrates Court, 37-year-old Steven Tennison pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully obtaining personal data (section 55 of the Data Protection Act). He was fined a total of £996 and ordered to pay a £99 victim surcharge and £250 prosecution costs.
The offences were uncovered in October 2010 when the practice manager at College Practice GP surgery (pictured) was asked to review Tennison’s attendance file. The review included a check of his use of the patient records program, which showed that between 6 August 2009 and 6 October 2010 he had accessed patients’ records on 2,023 occasions.
The majority of the records viewed related to women in their 20s and 30s. One woman’s record – believed to be a school friend of Tennison – was accessed repeatedly along with the record of her son.
The practice confirmed that Tennison only needed to access patients’ records on three occasions during this period, when the practice manager was on leave and he was responsible for investigating a complaint.
Information Commissioner’s Office head of enforcement Stephen Eckersley said: “We may never know why Tennison decided to break the law by snooping on hundreds of patients’ medical records. What we do know is that he’d received data training and knew he was breaking the law, but continued to access highly sensitive information over a 14-month period.
“The GPs and staff at College Practice GP surgery work hard to maintain the confidentiality of their patients’ records. The irresponsible actions of one employee have undermined their work and he is now facing the consequences of his unlawful actions.”