As I get older I am rarely shocked and I have become used to staggering levels of incompetence from service providers and government department. Today proved to be an exception. I am horrified to find that HMRC has lost a couple of computer disks that were not even encrypted, they were just password protected. Incredibly those disks contained the names, addresses, dates of birth, NI numbers and bank account details of all Child Benefit claimants and their children. Alistair Darling stood at the House of Commons despatch box looking distinctly uncomfortable as he revealed the full extent of the incompetence which led to this loss. Perhaps he thought that wearing that lurid cerise tie would distract peoples attention, or perhaps he is just colour blind, but it would take much more than bad taste to cover up this bit of bad news.
They say there is no evidence that this information has fallen into the wrong hands, but since they have no idea where the disks are there is no evidence that the information has not been stolen. The information would be worth a fortune to criminals. The data protection act seems powerless to protect us from idiots! If we can't trust our government and its departments with our most sensitive details, why should we trust them with anything else? After all this is the latest in a catalogue of errors when it comes to losing personal data, they are starting to look accident prone. I am absolutely certain that the W.I. could do a better job of running the country.
So, while I am worrying about identity theft and potential fraudulent activity against my bank account I can only find one positive comment to make - this is one of the few things that we can't blame Network Rail for!!
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