Fantasy Football Sign up to our classic game for just £3 Navigation - link to other main sections from here Skip Navigation Times Online irwin stelzer Opening quote The bad news is that the dollar is showing signs of strength Closing quote Irwin Stelzer Send your views * News * Comment * Business * Money * Sport * Life & Style * Travel * Driving * Arts & Ents * Archive * Our Papers * Site Map * UK News * World News * Politics * Environment * Weather * Tech & Web * Times Online TV * Photo Galleries * Topics * Mobile * RSS Search __________ Where am I? Home * News UK News MY PROFILE SHOP JOBS CLASSIFIEDS From Times Online August 16, 2008 Ministry of Justice loses 45,000 personal records Kevin Dowling The Government’s reputation for protecting people’s sensitive electronic data has been dealt yet another blow with the revelation that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) lost the records of 45,000 people. The information included dates of birth, national insurance numbers, criminal records, and in a single incident, the loss of bank details and other information belonging to 27,000 people working for suppliers to the department. In another case, officials lost an “inadequately protected” laptop storing the job applications of 13 people who were applying for judicial positions with the service. The revelations in the department’s annual accounts come after similar blunders saw two CDs with the child benefit records of 25 million families lost in the post and the loss of 658 laptops by the Ministry of Defence. Related Links * Intelligence chief to review data security * MoD data theft kept from police and ministers In 30,000 cases the MoJ did not notify the people affected, judging that it did not need to do so after carrying out a risk assessment. In January an "inadequately protected" laptop containing records of 14,000 fine defaulters including names, dates of birth, addresses, offences, and - in a fifth of cases - national insurance numbers, went missing from a "secured" government office. In June 2007 records of 27,000 people working for suppliers to the MoJ, again kept on “inadequately protected” storage devices, were lost. Two other laptops and several other storage devices were mislaid in 2007, leading to the loss of names, dates of birth and national insurance numbers of 145 court appellants, and the names of 138 criminals and the offences committed by them. Liberal Democrat Justice spokesman David Howarth MP said: "Yet again the Government has shown that it cannot be trusted with citizens' personal data. "How can ministers possibly argue for the introduction of a universal ID Card scheme when they can't even keep safe the data they already have." An MoJ spokesman said: "Risk assessments were carried out to assess who, if anyone, should be notified and to ensure measures were in place to mitigate risk to individuals and to prevent a recurrence of the incident. "The dsepartment will continue to monitor and assess its information risks in order to identify and address any weaknesses and ensure continuous improvement of its systems." He said the ministry is planning to implement a dedicated information assurance programme to oversee and ensure that electronic information and documents are "managed, stored and disposed of in a manner that inspires high levels of parliamentary and public trust and confidence". In April the Information Commissioner said he was notified of 94 data breaches since the loss last year of the child benefit database – two thirds were committed by the Government and other public sector bodies. * Have your say I don't understand the need for risk assessment. If a person's data was loss, they ought to be notified as a matter of course. If for nothing other than information and respect. It should be the data provider to determine whether to pursue recourse or not. Dominik, london, ..are they registered with the Data Protection Registrar, one wonders...? Abdul Majeed, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK This does make you wonder, your always told to protect your details on for example social networking sites. But the government makes identity theft even easier, all you need to do is get hold of one of the "devices" lost. Sounds very safe to me... Maybe they should learn from the past... KGB maybe D.C.M., Sunderland, Joy, can't wait for identity cards... Farrukh, Woking, " . . . . . to ensure measures were in place to mitigate risk to individuals" I have a feeling that the main objective here was to mitigate the risk to civil servants' careers and ministerial responsibility. Full accountability at all levels is the only cure for this recurring problem. R Bingham, Lauzun, France I wonder how much longer the Information Commissioner's job will last before it is decided that it is no longer necessary by a Government so inept that it defies description. A move that will at least protect the idiots in charge of our most precious commodity Jurgen, St Maixent sur Vie, France Have your say ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Please note the maximum number of characters is 300. * Name ______________________ * Email ______________________ * Town ______________________ Country ______________________ * Required [_] Remember me * Terms and conditions Submit * Print * Email * Post to del.icio.us * Post to Fark * Post to Yahoo! * Post to Digg Also in UK News * Five dead in midair plane crash near Coventry * Floods hit Northern Ireland after rivers burst banks * Purple patch for the ushers as episcopal circus arrives Also in News * Win a weekend break for two in Pisa, as guests of Lastminute.com and Holiday Autos * Border guards refuse to use passport robots * Local produce bartered for pints at The Pigs pub Explore UK News * Crime News * Education News * Health News * Science News * Scotland News Times Recommends * The chilling world of gangland crime * Barricade forces dustcart crew to pick up rubbish * Grouse: Harrods special becomes two-pint turkey Pictures of the Week The members of the track cycling team of Great Britain compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games men's cycling team sprint final at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing A selection of the best images from around the world Slide Show Comment Michael Portillo open quote mark With Gordon Brown presiding over a shrinking foreign policy, could Britain become invisible on the world stage? close quote mark More... 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