Unfortunately, it happens sometimes. Unscrupulous people get their hands on personal information. In addition to being criminal, when those unscrupulous people are in your HR department, that represents an even greater breach of trust.
Michael Haberman’s post, “Who Watches the Watchers” addresses this issue. Security measures that seem like common sense can fall through the cracks, particularly in smaller organizations that don’t have IT departments to monitor the illegal transfer of sensitive information. Haberman suggests that a healthy dose of suspicion is required. Have a policy in place that allows you to periodically search an employee’s computer, and do so. And be sure to listen to any employee complaints about breaches in personal information.
Source: OmegaHRSolutions, Feb. 10, 2014, Michael Haberman