More privacy problems, this time in the UK.
Two password-protected discs containing the personal information of 25 million people have gone missing. The details include names, addresses, dates of birth, Child Benefit numbers, National Insurance numbers and bank or building society account details. Alastair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has called the incident an “extremely serious failure”.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) child benefit database was copied by a junior official and sent by couriers TNT in response to a query from the National Audit Office (NAO). However, the discs were not recorded or registered. They never arrived, and the loss was not reported for three weeks.
How many people are affected? Every family in the country with a child under 16, which equates to 10 million adults and 15 million children, or 7.25m families.
The Metropolitan Police are trying to locate the discs. They say there is no evidence the information “has found its way into the wrong hands” or of any evidence that it has been used for fraud.
Kieran Poynter, chairman of Price Waterhouse Coopers, has been appointed to investigate HMRC security procedures. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is also likely to investigate the incident.
The Government has alerted banks and building societies, who will be monitoring their customers’ accounts for unusual activity.
The head of Revenue & Customs has resigned.
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