Faith in the government's ability to keep personal data
secure has been rocked for a third time by revelations of yet
another data loss, this time the personal details of more than
three million learner drivers.
Transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, has promised that her
department will tighten up data security and apologised for "any
uncertainty" caused to drivers' licence applicants between
September 2004 and April this year.
Kelly admitted that a contractor in Iowa in the US had reported
the computer disc containing the data missing in May, but said the
data did not include financial details, dates of birth, or copies
of signatures.
The government's latest embarrassment comes just days after the
Driver and Vehicle Agency in Northern Ireland admitted losing the
personal details of more than 6,000 drivers and just weeks
after
HM Revenue and Customs lost discs containing the names and bank
account details of 25 million child-benefit claimants.
Theresa Villiers, Conservative shadow minister for transport,
said the latest admission was evidence of "systemic failure" within
the government's data protection controls.
The child-benefit data included the names of children and their
parents, addresses, dates of birth, child-benefit numbers, National
Insurance numbers and even bank and building society account
details, but Alastair Darling, chancellor, said there was no
evidence the discs had fallen into criminal hands.