The loss of a memory stick containing the details of 130,000
criminals, including the name, address and dates of birth for
33,000 criminals, is not the first embarrassing data loss for the
government:
August 2008
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) admitted it had lost
the details of 188 people this year, in five separate
incidents.
July 2008
The MoD admitted that it loses an average of one laptop every
two days with
659 reported stolen and 89 lost by the department in the last 4
years.
December 2007
The government admitted it had lost the personal details of more
than
three million learner drivers who had applied for a licence
between September 2004 and April 2007.
In the same month the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in
Northern Ireland admitted to losing the personal details of over
6,000 drivers.
November 2007
Details of 50,000 visa applicants were displayed on a website
run by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The incident was
investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office and the FCO
signed a formal undertaking to comply with the principles of the
Data Protection Act.
CDs containing personal data on
25 million child benefit recipients were lost by HM Revenue
& Customs (HMRC). Paul Gray, the chairman of HM Revenue &
Customs, resigned following the loss of the two discs in transit.
The discs contained names, addresses, dates of birth and bank
account details.