British government’s in-house mail system loses info on 25 million people
Oops!
Britain’s tax and customs service lost banking and personal data of 25 million people — nearly half the country’s population — when two computer disks disappeared in an internal mail service.
Paul Gray, the Revenue and Customs chairman, has resigned over the error, which happened when officials sent the disks to a government audit office. Treasury chief Alistair Darling said the delivery was not being tracked and was missing for three weeks before any alarm was raised.
You know, there’s casual - and then there’s STUPID!
The disks contained details on 7.25 million families in Britain claiming child benefit — a tax-free monthly payment available to everyone with children. The figure represents almost half the families in Britain, and the majority of the country’s children.
The information on the disks included the names of parents and children, their addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers and banking details.
Posted: Wed - November 21, 2007 at 06:59 AM