Identity theft is something to be taken very seriously, but according to Daniel Andrews it isn’t just an individual’s privacy problem. Because of the liability risk involved, businesses have much more to lose than a person does when it comes to the loss of secure data and private information.

Andrews was a guest speaker at Monday’s meeting of the Cuba Chamber of Commerce. He is a risk management specialist for Solutions on the Spot, helping businesses to identify what actions should be taken to help avoid data theft and to provide employee training on the risks of identity theft.

“Organizations who lose private data put other people at risk. The workplace is the site of more than half of all identity theft, simply because that’s where most of the data is being stored,” he explained to the chamber.

There are five areas of common identity fraud: driver’s license, Social Security, medical, financial and character/criminal. A security breach, Andrews said, can have a detrimental effect on your business operations—both in the added cost of legal fees if your company is sued and also in customer satisfaction and loyalty. For small business owners like those in the Cuba Chamber, covering those unforeseen costs can quickly take the financial sheet from being in the black to being in the red.

He reminded the chamber membership that businesses have the most to lose in identity theft cases, giving examples of high-profile cases in the media where data loss has resulted in class action lawsuits.

Typically, he said, “most data losses are not an IT problem. They’re about having poorly trained employees.” Andrews stated that many businesses do not train their employees in the proper storage and destruction of personal records and information. Some businesses do not have good practices in place when it comes to data protection.

“It’s about respecting the data—people’s personal information, whether that is customer records or employee records. You have to know what you’re dealing with and also understand how to handle it the right way,” he told Three Rivers Publishing. There is a great potential for liability, both civil and criminal, against businesses large and small if data is lost or compromised.