Training company A4e has written to clients in Hull and Leicester after losing details of over 24,000 people. The records were stored on a laptop that was stolen from the house of A4e employee during an "opportunistic domestic burglary".
While the company claims there was no financial information stored on the device - it is examining how its data security procedures were breached and putting plans in place to ensure it won't happen again.
Bob Martin, group chief executive of A4e, stated: "We sincerely apologise to all those affected by this incident. It should not have happened."
"While we are advised that the risk to clients is low, we are taking every precaution to ensure their interests are protected."
A4e delivers public services across a range of sectors, including employment and welfare, training and education and debt and legal advice. The stolen laptop contained names, postcodes, dates of birth and possible awards made by a court. The have informed the Information Commissioner about the loss and step up a free-of-charge helpline for those people affected by the incident.
Research conducted by security software company, Check Point, found that only 41% of UK firms have encryption procedures on business laptops - a statistic that has not increased in two years.
This incident follows a similar case last week where a laptop was stolen from the car of a DairyCo employee.
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