By Tom Espiner, 19 December 2007 08:51
NEWS
Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs has admitted losing the personal details of more than 6,500 people claiming pensions.
The details were lost at an office of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in Cardiff after a data cartridge went missing in September, an HMRC spokesperson said yesterday. The cartridge had been sent to the Cardiff office by Countrywide Assured, a life assurance and pensions company.
Details on the cartridge included names, addresses, national insurance numbers and pension contributions, according to Graham Kettleborough, chief executive officer of Chesnara, the parent company of Countrywide Assured.
The cartridge was signed for when it reached the office but was subsequently mislaid, said the HMRC spokesperson. However, the spokesperson insisted that, because the information on the data cartridge can only be accessed by a mainframe computer, the risk to the individuals involved is "very low".
Kettleborough said, in regard to personal pension policies, Countrywide Assured made submissions to HMRC "to make the correct tax additions to policies and [to get] the right numbers for the right people".
The breach was outlined by HMRC's director general, Dave Hartnett, to the Treasury select committee last week.
Chesnara said it had sent a letter to those affected and that the letter had been partly an explanation of what had happened and partly an apology.
HMRC said in a statement: "We are taking this loss extremely seriously and have done everything possible to locate the data cartridge. We would like to apologise to all those affected."
The breach is the latest in a series of incidents, seven of which have affected HMRC this year.
In November, HMRC admitted to losing the details, including bank account information, of 25 million people claiming and receiving child benefit, while, earlier this week, the Driving Standards Agency admitted to compromising the personal details of three million learner drivers.
Tom Espiner writes ZDNet.co.uk
Comments
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1. John Kennard
All this data loss malarky is s really just a way of improving the case for ID cards.
One of the biggest arguments against ID cards is security of personal data (I know - shame on me for even thinking that the government might let our precious details go astray!).
But when the details of every living person in the country have been "accidentally" spilled into the public domain, there'll be nothing left that hasn't already been compromised and therefore no point in protecting it.
No need to worry about security any more!
"Protect your data? Why bother - it's already all over Google!"
2. anonymous
So, what are the magical properties of this cartridge that allows it only to be read by a 'mainframe computer' - however that is defined these days? More security breaches coupled with ill-informed excuses from people who haven't got the sense to know better!
3. anonymous
Does HMCE know what it is doing? A couple of weeks ago it sent me a notice about a company I closed 5 years ago. I replied back this company no longer exists but they have since sent me a paye paying in book and seperately a notice to pay paye!
Yet if we make a mistake or are perceived legally or illegally to be organising our tax liabilities they come down on us like a ton of bricks.
HMCE should be made more accountable for all its actions and companies and individuals should have the right to sue it if found to be negligent. I receive child benefit!
4. anonymous
And organised crime does not have access to mainframe computers?
5. Karen Challinor
the scale of these losses point to what the opposition party refers to as a "systemic failure", not that they would do any better
basically it is the standard operating procedure of hmg that is at fault and the people who create and maintain those procedures that are responsible
so lets ditch the whole useless shower and replace them with a real democracy, where you and I actually have a say in how our country is run, instead of this pretend democracy where we only get a say once every four or five years and then only when HMG is confident we are going to make the 'right' decision i.e. the one they want us to make
just a suggestion, but expect more of the same unless something is done
6. Karen Challinor
cartridge ?
so all thats needed is a reader for that cartridge
probably a tape cartridge so lets see, a certain well known etailer has approximately 135 different tape drives for sale at very reasonable prices including any necessary drivers for PC's
want to bet one of them will cheerfully read the lost data cartridge
I even have an old tape drive that I used to use for backups until it became more cost effective to use a USB hard drive, I'd put a fiver on that being able to read the cartridge in question
7. GALLEY SLAVE#41
Do you think anyone will be doing time for these offences,
DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH!!!
8. anonymous
No wonder Gordon Brown does not want to have a law requiring data breeches to be more proptly reported! How many more losses like this are government ministers and civil servants covering up?
And the government still wants the country to trust them with ID cards? Yeah. Sure.
9. john waddington
Isn't it about time one of the governments many advisers told them how to store and share large volumes pf data. It is not neccessary to transport data either on a laptop or cds by courier service around the country as this only opens up the possibility of loss. There have been a few accudental losses in the past year, what has been happening over the previous years?