Almost one in five small and medium-sized businesses have breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) at least once, according to a survey by The British Standards Institution (BSI).

The survey of over 500 small and medium sized-businesses also revealed that 65% of companies provide no data protection training for their staff and nearly half of those surveyed admitted that their business does not have anybody that is specifically responsible for data protection.

"The five million small and medium-sized businesses in the UK form the backbone of the British economy," said Mike Low, director of standards at the BSI.

"These organizations are handling vast amounts of personal information on a daily basis and while it is encouraging that some already have appropriate data protection measures in place this survey shows that there is still a long way to go."