IRRV Alert - week ending 14th May 2021
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VOA message to Local Authorities: Important notice to all users of BATrans - Passwords must not be disclosed to service providers
10 May 2021
Dear authority,
Important notice to all users of BATrans - Passwords must not be disclosed to service providers
It has been brought to our attention that Local Authority service providers might be using the BATRANS portal, using the Authority’s password.
We appreciate that everyone is under pressure to progress work, however service providers are not authorised to use the service, even if they are detailed on your information sharing agreement.
As well as the sharing of passwords not being compliant with good IT practice, third parties accessing the BATrans site could result in unauthorised disclosures which are an offence in the Local Government Finance Act. In addition, where the information includes personal data it could lead to enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The outcome of our investigations into this issue will likely lead to new passwords being issued and additional monitoring of access to the site. We ask that any practice of sharing passwords outside of an authority stops immediately.
We appreciate that a recent IT change has meant that some Authorities have experienced issues accessing the BATrans site, but it is the system we currently have to securely share data with you. We are working on improving the site, including exploring if we can use BATrans to provide additional data that you might find useful.
We are keen to share information where we can, but in order to do so we need taxpayer information to remain secure and have restricted access.
Thank you. If you have any queries, please contact us LAengagement@voa.gov.uk
Regards
Lisa
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Lisa Rawson | Local Authority Relationship Manager Local Authority Engagement Team, Strategy and Transformation Directorate
Telephone 03000 500239 | E LAengagement@voa.gov.uk
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