ALMOST one in five businesses has unwittingly breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) at least once, according to a survey of more than 500 small and medium businesses.

The survey, conducted by BSI, the national standards body of the UK, revealed that of those businesses to breach the act, nearly half said they had done so on several occasions.

An additional 18 per cent said they were not sure whether they had or not.

A breach could refer to the illegal transfer of information to a third party, failure to hold information securely or neglect of other legal obligations.

The survey, published today, was carried out to mark the publication of a British standard on data protection, which will help organizations comply with data protection legislation.

Mike Low, director of standards at BSI, said: “The five million small and mediumsized businesses in the UK form the backbone of the British economy.

“These organizations are handling vast amounts of personal information on a daily basis, and while it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place, this survey shows that there is still a long way to go.

“A third of businesses we surveyed stated that the complexity of the legislation restricts their compliance with the DPA.”