Sneaky peek society

Over 3 million workers (11%)* have read confidential or sensitive work documents while travelling on public transport

When sitting next to someone on public transport,43% of adults would take a sneaky peek at what their neighbour is reading or working on 868,000 UK employees are estimated to have left work documents or devices in a public place New research from insurer RSA has revealed that a significant amount of confidential information is open to the prying eyes of the general public.

The study suggests a staggering 43% of the 49 million people living in the UK would take a look at someone else's private documents given the opportunity.

With over 3 million workers in the UK admitting to reading sensitive or confidential information while travelling on public transport, the opportunity for 'sneaky peekers' is certainly there.

Even more worrying is that of the employees that take confidential documents or devices such as a laptop or Blackberry out of the office, 868,000 are estimated to have left them behind in a public place.

Commenting on the research, Paul Greensmith, Director of Risk Solutions at RSA, said: "The research shows that we live in a inquisitive society where a significant number of people will nosily read over their neighbour's shoulder given the chance.

What's more, there are an alarming number of cases of confidential documents being left in public, potentially exposing customer details or sensitive company information to a large unknown audience.

Companies must act immediately to address these risks by setting clear standards on how employees manage customer sensitive data and communicating them regularly.".

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