Data breach cover-ups

Posted in 'Identity Theft' by Barry Stamp

10 September 2008

It was not until lunchtime on Saturday 6 September that the loss of a hard drive in July was reported to Justice Secretary Jack Straw. The hard drive contains the personal details of 5,000 employees of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), including many prison officers. It is reported to contain names, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers and employee numbers.

Not surprisingly, the Chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association commented, “…..the Prison Service appears to have tried to conceal this serious breach in security”.

This followed close on the heels of another data loss by Home Office contractor PA Consulting which lost a memory stick which held names, addresses and release dates of 127,000 criminals. Initially described in a memo to Chief Constables ‘…it seems likely this is not a targeted theft to obtain the data collected on the memory stick." But on 11 September, it transpired that this may not be the case.

Two discs containing Home Office data records of 3,000 seasonal workers - including names, nationalities, passport numbers and dates of birth - were lost in transit in March between an un-named contractor and the UK Borders Agency. The loss was only publicly revealed in the Home Office Resource Accounts 2007/08, published on 8 August. A Home Office spokesperson commented, "This is not a Home Office data loss," going on to deflect government responsibility by diverting the blame to a contractor, which had sent the discs by ordinary post rather than by special delivery. Nevertheless, it cannot be disputed that this was, in fact, Home Office data. The discs were password protected but not encrypted.

Government data breaches are now so commonplace, and so widespread, your risk of falling victim to identity fraud has never been higher.

It’s now down to us as individuals to do what we can to reduce the risks – and you can use our free identity theft expert system to be advised of making small changes to your daily habits which can make a big difference. Or you can purchase our industry acclaimed handbook Identity Theft – Prevention and Victim Assistance – for just £9.99 including post and packing.

The best way of checking that you have not fallen foul of financial identity theft is to use our Unlimited Access service for only £17.55 per quarter. This will help you spot any unidentified search activity, or new accounts opened in your name at your current or previous addresses, or fraud warnings registered against your address either in your name or in the names of other people. You can then take early action to restore your identity, or more hopefully, obtain peace of mind by constantly assuring yourself that your good name and standing has not been stolen.