Aaaaaaargh.

This is one of the biggest technical news stories to break recently, and what I would hope from the Reg is analysis.

This story appears to be a "comments from viewers" article, which today's rolling news media use to substitute for insight and analysis. I accept that the details will keep emerging over the next day or two, but this bears no comparison to your fantastic interpretation articles on the IPCC report on Jean Charles de Menezes.

Please can your next article on this subject be based on knowledge and analysis rather than regurgitated user comments.

Yep carefully analytical groundless speculation is always preferable to reports from people who might actually know something about the civil service, eh?

Gives me a lovely, warm, fuzzy feeling inside to know that one day soon these incompetant numpties will be running a data-grabbing Police State near you...

Make me proud to be part of the New World Order and all the Freedoms & Liberties (TM) that involves!

Which bit of the title of the article "Comments on ‘Darling's Data giveaway - what the readers say’" ...

"COMMENTS on ‘Darling's Data giveaway - what the readers say’"

**COMMENTS**

confused you, you fucktards?

I quote:

"This story appears to be a "comments from viewers" article..." - no fucking shit.

And as for AC's burning desire for "reports from people who might actually know something about the civil service", if you had bothered to read any of the letters, you would have discovered that some of them were in face from people who work in the service, and even in HMRC in cases.

I mean FFS, get down to HMRC - they could do with people like you. Or at least you can be with people on your level and while away your days eating each other's ticks.

Morons.

It's in perfectly safe hands. Uncle Sam needs it for the Total Information Awareness database.

The rant against Dunstan was fair.

However, the next post, "Yep carefully analytical groundless speculation is always preferable to reports from people who might actually know something about the civil service, eh?" was certainly meant as sarcasm.

On BBC News at 6:00 pm today, a number of policemen were seen entering the HMRC offices.

Why?

Oh dear, two discs have been misplaced, & they don't even know if a courier has collected them.

Does anyone expect some constables, sergeants & inspectors to physically look for two discs? They'd have been better-employed manning speed cameras to generate some revenue.

Next time one of my kids misplaces a PlayStation disc, can I expect assistance from the local constabulary?

An opportune announcement on Engadget.......

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/21/gps-letter-logger-promises-to-keep-tabs-on-mail/

Apart from the collateral damage (which was within acceptable limits), that was my favourite rant ever.

...someone starts a massive campaign which would involve everyone pretending to be someone else for one day a week (well, as far as it can reasonably be taken) - with all the overcrowding in the "justice" system (reason for quotes: Doherty, etc), the Government would hopefully have a bit of a meltdown. Yay/nay?

Comments on the comments of the story, wow this is all a bit Meta.

Also everyone seems to have missed a couple of points.

If a criminal was intent on stealing this data would it not be better to borrow the disks copy them and have them arrive perhaps a little late and with no publicity. This may have already happened months ago if data security is so lax.

If a criminal now has the information won't they be lying low with the information until the heat has died down?