An investigation has been launched after files containing highly-sensitive personal information of children at a Dundee nursery were handed over to The Courier.
A concerned member of the public passed on files containing information relating to children and staff at the old Technotots nursery on Brunel Road.
Information contained in the files included bank details, birth certificates and even paperwork concerning at-risk children.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the body tasked with investigating breaches in the Data Protection Act, have confirmed an investigation is taking place.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said police would investigate any breach of the Data Protection Act if a report is submitted to them by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
A spokesperson for the ICO said: “We have been made aware of a possible incident and are making enquiries.”
Documents were allegedly abandoned in a shed at the derelict nursery, which had also apparently been broken in to, with cider cans and wine bottles found strewn amongst the disturbed papers.
The files, numbering in the hundreds, contain severely sensitive information detailing child identities, bank account details and employee records.
A child’s birth certificate was amongst the many files uncovered at the site, detailing name, age, place of birth and the child’s parents’ identities.
One of the files identifies a former employee who it was recommended should not be left unsupervised with children.
Another discovered is a report submitted by child protection services detailing a potential child abuse incident.
A large number of child medication forms, including information on nursery attendees illnesses and required medicine doses, are also among the find.
Photographs of the children, along with their art-work and education assessment reports were also discovered.
The assortment of files appear to go as far back as 1999, and up to the nursery’s closure in 2014.
Angela McGoldrick, former owner and manager of Technotots who now runs the nearby Green Shoots Nursery, said she believed the documents had been stored securely, although she said had not been into the building since the nursery ceased operation.
She said : “The files were left securely in the building, which was left secure.
“I believe that someone has gone into the building and moved them.
“Any files I have had in the nursery have been held securely in the building, which I still own.
“I am devastated to hear someone could have done this. I take no responsibility for the files being put in the container.
“It is appalling someone would remove these documents from the building.”
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “The Care Inspectorate have been notified that records relating to the operation of the former Technotots Nursery were provided to the press.
“This has been reported to the police and the Information Commissioners Office by the provider.
“We are aware that former premises used by the nursery for storage have now been secured.”
The papers have now been returned to Ms McGoldrick after instruction by the ICO.
