Bournemouth Borough Council in Dorset, UK, has rolled out an email encryption system in a move designed to achieve compliance with the UK Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
The local authority selected a solution based on PGP's Universal encryption suite to secure electronic communications containing personal information between the council and its residents, merchants, and other government agencies.
"A great deal of the information held by the Council is private, including personal and health information, data about schools and students, and tax and voting records," said Fred Baert, Bournemouth's Information Communication Technology (ICT) Security Officer.
"The 1998 Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act both require the Council to ensure the security of electronic communications, and the Council's own security policy states that confidential information must be encrypted. PGP Corporation is the market leader in encryption, so choosing a PGP solution seemed like the right thing to do."
According to Phillip Dunkelberger, president and CEO for PGP Corporation, regulatory mandates and societal concerns continue to pressure all types of organisations to secure confidential information in electronic communications.
