A computer data disk containing
the personal and financial details of around 2,000 members of
the British Council has been lost.
The data lost includes names, national insurance numbers and
salary and bank account details of the Council's UK staff.
The loss is the latest to embarass the government in recent
months. The British
Council, which is a Foreign Office-sponsored organisation, said
the missing disk was securely encrypted to keep its contents
safe.
The British Council said the disk was lost being transported
from the organisation's payroll data supplier to its human
resources department by courier firm TNT. It was a routine monthly
delivery in December.
TNT is still looking for the disk. Security experts have asked
why the government doesn't send data over secure networks, rather
than vans.
A British Council spokesman said the system for transferring
data is now being reviewed.