DCSIMG Telegraph accessibility links * Skip to article * Skip to Telegraph main navigation Saturday 27 September 2008 | Defence feed | All feeds Advertisement Advertisement Website of the Telegraph Media Group with breaking news, sport, business, latest UK and world news. Content from the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and video from Telegraph TV. ____________________ Search Enhanced by Google * Home * News * Sport * Finance * Comment * Travel * Lifestyle * Culture * Video * A to Z * Offers * Jobs * Dating * UK * World * Politics * Celebrities * Obituaries * Weird * Science * Earth * Topics You are here: 1. Home 2. News 3. News Topics 4. Politics 5. Defence Thouands of personal files stolen from RAF base The details of up to 50,000 serving and ex-service personnel are at risk after three USB portable hard disc drives were stolen from an RAF station, the Ministry of Defence has admitted. By Jessica Salter Last Updated: 4:21PM BST 27 Sep 2008 More data loss problems - this time, it's emerged that it's the RAF that's had personal records stolen from a base in Gloucester. ; http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid1820369501 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1139053637 The drives were being stored in a double-secured area of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency's offices at Innsworth Station, Gloucestershire. The agency holds files on all the serving members of the RAF, veterans and their dependents. A Ministry of Defence spokesman admitted that data on the entire RAF personnel and their families was at risk. He could not confirm what information was stored on the drives and how many people's records would be affected. He said: "The MOD can confirm that an investigation is being conducted by the MOD Police, with the support of Gloucestershire Police into the apparent theft of three USB portable hard disc drives. "We are taking this incident extremely seriously. "In view of the ongoing nature of police enquiries, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." The revelation of the stolen discs comes two days after the Government was warned it should review the way it handles data loss incidents. There have been several incidents in recent months involving either civil servants or government departments losing data. An investigation was launched following the loss of a memory stick containing the names and expected release dates for 84,000 prisoners by a Home Office contractor in August. Dr Stephen Hickey, who carried out an investigation, said he was surprised the department did not have guidelines with how to deal with the situation. He said many of the lessons learnt from the loss should be formalised and applied Government-wide. The loss of the prisoners' data followed a number of similar incidents across a number of government departments and agencies, including the details of 25 million individuals, including bank accounts and National Insurance numbers, lost when discs containing child benefit data went missing in the post. Earlier this week, a disk containing the names and addresses of almost 11,500 teachers went missing in the post. * Email this article * Print this article * Share this article + delicious + Digg + Facebook + Fark + Google + Newsvine + NowPublic + Reddit + StumbleUpon Related Content * Ministers 'should learn from' data loss scandals * Military secrets missing on Ministry of Defence computer files * No dirty talk Ann Widdecombe might be a veteran of ... More on ... News Get feed updates Defence Get feed updates UK News Get feed updates Advertisement Advertisement TELEGRAPH TV IFRAME: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1691027950/bclid1231010610/ Advertisement Advertisement EDITOR'S CHOICE Ready for the spotlight? Tory party conference: Is Samantha Cameron ready for the spotlight? Linda McDougall offers an intimate portrait of Samantha Cameron, a very modern wife. Obituary: Paul Newman, a true Hollywood star Bail-out summit descends into pantomime YSL's art collection unveiled The end of the property dream? most viewed * TODAY * PAST WEEK * PAST MONTH Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pictures The week in pictures The week in pictures Pictured: Pit stop practise, a sweater wearing chicken and a wedding race 190,000 Muslims pray Security tightened as Muslims prayed in flashpoint Jerusalem mosque. End Of Summer Ball A host of famous faces gathered for a charity ball in Berkeley Square. Free brochures IFRAME: http://www.dianomioffers.co.uk/smartads.epl?id=103 Classifieds IFRAME: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/template/ver1-0/templates/fragments/com mon/widgets/jobWidget.jsp?widgetType=JOB&jobChannel=NEWS Advertisement YOUR MONEY Cut gas bills Cut your energy bills How to tackle this winter's soaring gas and electricity bills. TRAVEL Grand Canal, Venice for less than £200 City breaks for less How to have a two-night break in Venice for less than £200. CRUISES The latest and best cruising deals on Telegraph.co.uk Cruise deals of the week This week's best deals for under £1,000, chosen by Sara Macefield. Crossword Society Telegraph Crossword Society Puzzle aficionado? Join the Telegraph Crossword Society and access more than 4,000 puzzles. Back to top More Telegraph.co.uk * A to Z * Blogs * Comment * Crossword * Culture * Dating * Earth * Education * Expat * Fantasy Football * Fashion * Features * Finance * Food & Drink * Football * Gardening * Health * Horoscopes * Jobs * Lifestyle * Mobile * Motoring * My Telegraph * News * Obituaries * Personal Finance * Promotions * Property * Science * Sport * Style Book * Sudoku * Technology * Travel * Video * Weather * Widgets Archive Contact us RSS Feeds Today's news Syndication Reader prints © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2008 Terms & Conditions of reading Commercial information Privacy and Cookie Policy. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/3089374/Thouands -of-personal-files-stolen-from-RAF-base.html