Have your personal details been compromised in October?

Posted in 'Identity Theft' by Richard Catlin

04 November 2008

October may have contained ‘National Identity Theft Awareness Week’, but this seems to have had more to do with selling shredders than anything else if these data breaches are anything to go by:

10 October – Theft of an MOD laptop containing personal identifiers, passport details, National Insurance numbers, family details and medical records of 600,000 people who had expressed an interest in joining the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force. Included 3,500 bank details too. The security services were involved following fears that the data could be used by terrorists to identify Muslim applicants.

13 October – Theft of a laptop owned by accountants Deloitte containing personal identifiers, salaries, National Insurance numbers and family details of around 5,000 Sky employees who are members of the BSkyB Pension Plan.

24 October – Email sent to 3,396 Leicester Students’ Union members who had applied for an NUS student discount card, which had attached to it the details of all other applicants including personal identifiers, mobile phone numbers and course details.

25 October – Unencrypted laptop stolen from a Lancashire Police officer’s car (whilst he was in it) containing undisclosed crime data, witness statements and officer reports. Actually stolen in March 2007 but uncovered only now following a Freedom of Information Act request.

29 October – Another unencrypted MOD laptop stolen from a parked car outside Army married quarters near the Aisne Road Barracks in Colchester, containing undisclosed data.

30 October – Theft of yet another laptop owned by accountants Deloitte containing personal data of over 150,000 rail workers and pensioners, being the property of RPMI – the body that administers railway pension schemes. Stolen ‘several weeks prior to the announcement to the general public’.

31 October – Patient files lifted by hospital visitor at Wishaw General Hospital who found them unattended. Contains the names and medical histories of an unspecified number of patients at the hospital.

31 October – A memory stick containing 12 million user names and passwords for the Government Gateway – the website that allows businesses and individuals to submit tax returns and to access government services – was found in a Brewer’s Fayre pub car park in Cannock, Staffs. The memory stick was owned by an employee of Atos Origin, which has a 5 year £47m contract to mangage the website. It was reported that the data was encrypted.

So with so many organisations being so reckless with your personal details, you should take all steps you can to tighten up your privacy and security generally. Check out our free Identity Theft Expert System to obtain personal recommendations, based on your lifestyle, in a matter of minutes.