Suddenly every second headline I read is about mis-posted info, lost laptops, unencrypted floppies in the mail... this does not bode well...

they have done it again with the DVLA database, on the news just - lost 6000 names, addresses and car details from NI - no bank details thankgod... like that makes it better. The government must think we are as dumb as them, what a load of asshats we have running the country.

I like the standard end line for all these articles is change their passwords and check all bank accounts.The only question missing an answer is what was your last trasnaction.

My National Insurance Number is X,, home telephone number, payroll number, childrens names, mothers maiden name, previous address, employer, credit history (gleaned from data check) , car (tax, V5 insurance & number plate number) , income tax information, average income, postcode and home address., birthdate, account number for checking and credit card acconts, sexual prefrences, marital status and MI5, CitizensAB , Inland revenue, Tax credit and CSA files.

Ok here is your password, try not to forget it

What I find tragic is that despite these endless security breaches and Government cockups, there will still be people supporting the ID card scheme / associated national database (based on the flimsiest of assurances about "lessons having been learned").

The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.

so, i guess whats happened here is some tool has maybe been asked to copy something and send a copy to these 4 organisations. And said tool has accidently went into the confidential HR filing cabinet and copied the personal employee details instead.

Easy mistake to make, I suppose.

Any better ideas?

I guarantee that after New Years (when all these [and more] data breaches are forgotten) Brown and co will start a strong campaign of lies to convince us that with IDcards and Biometrics:

a) None of the problems would have happened

b) No more data will ever get lost

c) Everyone will be safe.

Worst of all, is that most of the numpties out there that vote for this crap will believe them...

Will the sheeple please step this way for their mandatory implant...

... Leeds Building Society just went and misplaced the financial details of 'bout a thousand staff, according to the Beeb.

There is none.

I guess we just have to live with it.

Was it sent by CD?

If you are someone on this "scheme", you might like to check your bank account and change your password... no mention of emigrating to a distant corner of Australia for your personal safety...

(I understand data about these people was in the HMRC debacle)

You have a car registered in Northern Island, you work for Leeds Building Society and you attend hospital on Merseyside.

Feeling paranoid yet?

Of COURSE you see a series of these events - you're being spied on by a foreign power, for God's sake. They need to populate a database and they can't do it legally even by US law, let alone EU. The ID card wasn't implemented as instructed, so they can't steal everything in one go. The "losses" will go on until about 80% of the UK population is accounted for, just as the American laptop thefts took place in a series over a period of about 18 months then mysteriously ceased.

To coin a register moniker. Anyway, some of us on the other side of the pond were wondering if we could borrow your data security for a while.

For some reason, here in the U.S., there's been a rash of data destruction, but no losses, to speak of. Either nothing is being lost or...the press has just destroyed a story about data being lost...oh, I forgot.

Anyway, it seems like this is happening more frequently there in the U.K. and I was wondering, what's your secret? How is it that these stories are piling up, without either a government clampdown on information or some sort of corrective action?

Seems the best practice would be to encrypt, but dear me. Perhaps I'm an old fuddy-duddy. I mean, if you're going to send anything through the post, the last thing that could happen is that it get lost, eh? Seems almost impossible that such a thing could occur. Best just rely on blind luck, then. Right.

Having said that, I do wish a few interrogation tapes got "lost in the mail" instead of "confirmed destroyed". *Sigh*

As a Professor pointed out on Newsnight some weeks back, if the biometric data for your id card gets corrupted or changed or hacked - what are YOU supposed to do? Get new fingerprints. After all, the whole point of the system is to determine whose fingerprints and retinas do not match those on file. If they don't match then obviously YOU are the fake.

Does nobody in power see the problem with this? The reality of the person is no longer real enough - only the records are real and if they don't match then reality is wrong......

Regards

Brian

Is there any /logical/ (as opposed to political) reason why private organisations shouldn't be penalised by a /percentage/ fine (of turnover or profit) rather than a flat fee?

This wouldn't work economically for government-owned organisations such as the DHS or the MoD, as the end product would simply be that the taxpayer pays the fine, but for other areas such as banks, accountants/auditors or construction companies it may put a sting in the tail as opposed to the current fiasco of <gallic shrug> 'we won't do it again yeronner'.

In the cases of organisations that are so intermingled with government spending that they can't get out & survive after paying the fine, then their government subsidy (for want of a better word) should be fixed as if nothing has happened, whilst the private area should be fined as above

Since (unfortunately, IMV, but..) there appear to be no /truly/ State-owned enterprises any more this proposal will at least claw back /some/ of the cash that's been pissed-away over the last 20-30 years in the name of capitalism & free enterprise (read INDIVIDUALISTIC GREED).. before this country sinks finally into 2nd-3rd world status

If there are any non-partially-privatised areas still out there, apart from the Civil Cervix (Govt Depts, Sir Humphrey), they need the 'Radical Reform' done properly: cut out the middle managers & work up

Of course, this will never happen, but I can dream. Anyone seen V for Vendetta?

Has anyone seen anything by way of what actions have been taken against the perpetrators? I've only seen news about the offences. I'd like to know who made these errors and how these individuals are being dealt with - just like for any other crime. Also, what actions were taken/are being taken to prevent more of these disgracefully sloppy activities.

If the records included pension and salary information, how can the last claim by the good doctor in charge be true? Or are they paying Sefton staff in peanuts, coal and potatoes? If it's not financial information then there's no need to fuss about changing bank account detials...

Sounds like more spin. Problem is, when the plate of rhetoric is spun this often, folk are bound to get swamped in the crap thrown off.

Can we have a Pete Burns icon? "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" - which leads to the question - UK data protection; Dead or Alive?

that it wasn't nicked in Merseyside.

the first oxymoron to better "police intelligence"