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MoD admits to losing 11,000 ID cards
Another day, another data breach

By Nick Heath

Published: Thursday 13 March 2008

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted that more than 11,000 military ID cards have been lost or stolen in the past two years.

Defence minister Bob Ainsworth admitted that 4,433 ID cards disappeared in 2006 and a further 6,812 went missing from July 2006 to December 2007.

He revealed the loss in a written answer to Parliament in response to a question by shadow defence secretary Dr Liam Fox.

The revelation prompted condemnation from opposition parties who said that it made a mockery of security procedures at military facilities and showed a scandalous disregard for the security of British citizens.

In a statement, the MoD said: "We take the loss of military ID cards very seriously and we are taking steps to improve general security awareness. Military ID cards form one part of the security measures we have in place. They have photographic ID on them, so it would be difficult for them to be used by individuals they have not been assigned to."

silicon.com's Full Disclosure campaign - what we are asking for...

silicon.com wants the government to review its data protection legislation and improve the reporting of information security breaches in the public and private sectors.

We are calling for greater public debate and for the government to consider legislation that would require organisations that suffer information security breaches to alert their customers if there is a chance the breach has put individuals' sensitive personal data at risk.

We want to hear your views about this campaign and the issues it raises. Make your voice heard by leaving a Reader Comment below or emailing us at editorial@silicon.com.

The government has suffered many data security breaches over the past five months, including the MoD having three laptops stolen containing approximately 600,000 servicemen's and recruits' details, the NHS losing hundreds of thousands of patient records, the DVLA losing three million learner drivers' details and the HMRC losing 25 million child benefit details.