Data Protection and Remote Working

Most of us are familiar with working from home and working remotely. Having this flexibility means the Party is able to continually work effectively. Sometimes, operating from home and remotely brings it's own challenges and it is important to be aware of your data protection obligations whilst working this way.

Remote Working

Party data must be protected wherever you are working from. This means adopting some basic data security actions, including:

• Making sure laptops and devices are kept with you whilst travelling and not left unattended in cars
• Do not connect to unsecured public Wi-Fi when working with Party data
• Do not download personal data onto USB / memory sticks to transfer or transport data  

Using Zoom 

Zoom is a great way to keep in contact within your local party, however it does have security flaws and it is important that you take proactive steps to make sure that any meetings you hold are held securely.

You can do this by following these steps:

• Opt out of all data regions apart from Europe
• Set a password for all meetings
• Enable the waiting room function so guests cannot join the meeting before you as the host
• Lock the meeting once all participants have joined
• If you need to record the meeting, you must alert people to this. When selecting the record function, Zoom will also identify this at the start and end of the recording.
• Do not keep recordings and transcripts of meetings unless you absolutely have to and do not keep them for longer than necessary - recordings are still people's personal data and must be handled appropriately and securely.

Full details on how to do these things and general guidance on using Zoom can be found here.

**Please note** The data regions opt-out function is only available if you have a paid-for account. 

You should not publish details of your Zoom meeting on the internet or on open social media pages.

If you do not follow these steps you are putting your meeting at high risk of being disrupted.

Handling Data

It is important to ensure that personal data is held securely, wherever you are working from, even at home. Any hard copy personal data stored at home should be kept securely in a cupboard or drawer separately from personal documents. Once you've finished using the data, you must ensure that paper documents are destroyed securely using a crosscut shredder or a confidential waste service.

More data security advice can be found here.