MoD loses application details
February 1, 2008
The Ministry of Defence has kicked off the New Year with another data loss blunder, after admitting to the loss of the details of 600,000 people following the theft of an MoD laptop from Edgbaston in Birmingham. According to reports the Ministry of Defence has lost the applications, which also contained personal and bank details, of 600,000 people that applied to the Marines, the Navy, and the RAF. This is one of the latest in a long line of data loss blunder by government and other agencies.
One official from the Ministry of Defence spoke of the incident stating: “The information held is not the same for every individual. In some cases, for casual enquiries, the record is no more than a name. But for those who progressed as far as submitting an application to join the Forces, extensive personal data may be held, including passport details, National Insurance numbers, drivers’ licence details, family details, doctors’ addresses and National Health Service numbers.”
Other officials have also expressed concern over the fact that an agency such as the Ministry of Defence managed to lose the details of so many people. The shadow defence secretary said: “It’s just been too easy for data to go missing recently and we need to look at how to protect the details of the public.”
An official from Privacy International said: “I cannot believe that our flagship security agency cannot get this right. The idea that someone could have the computer with the information unencrypted - it is on a par with the HMRC loss.”
The Information Commissioner has now stated: “We will require satisfactory answers from the MoD about their data protection practices and a firm assurance that steps have been taken to improve these practices before deciding on the appropriate action to take.”
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