A CD containing personal data on 15,000 people has been
lost byHM Revenue & Customs(HMRC)
putting them all at risk of exploitation.
The disc was meant to be sent from the revenue office in
Newcastle to insurance company
Standard Life's headquarters in Edinburgh. But the confidential
record of names, National Insurance numbers, dates of birth and
pension data never arrived at its intended destination.
Now, having lost the data, HMRC and Standard Life are warning
those at risk to be "vigilant".
It has emerged that HMRC routinely sends CDs containing personal
data on taxpayers to the insurance companies that hold their
pensions by courier. In this instance, in September, the courier
lost the package.
However, John Gill, Standard Life's director for customer
services, appeared unconcerned. "We have seen no indications of any
suspicious activity," he said.
Warning letters have only now been sent to customers by HMRC and
Standard Life, five weeks after the data breach occurred.
One customer, named as Carolyn, was not impressed by the loss of
data. The delay in informing customers made things even worse, she
argued.
"This happened at the end of September and it is a month before
notification.
"They are saying that addresses were not on there, but if
someone has your surname and date of birth it is not that difficult
to track you down."
An investigation by the
BBC's Money Box programme has now found that a second CD, from
an unnamed firm, has gone missing from HMRC.