Customer details lost by high street bank
May 15, 2008
One of the UK’s leading high street banks, HSBC, recently admitted that it had lost the personal details of around 370,000 customers, after a disc went missing. The bank faced an investigation by the Financial Services Authority after it admitted to losing the information. The disc was being sent to reinsurance offices via an external courier in March when it went missing. The bank admitted the loss to the Financial Services Authority.
It is thought that the bank could face a fine in the event that the financial watchdog finds that security measures were not up to scratch. Officials from HSBC said that the information on the disc did not include bank account details or addresses, but did contain dates of birth, names, and insurance cover levels. The date related to customers with mortgage related life assurance cover with the bank.
Following the loss of data HSBC official stated: ‘There is nothing else that could in any way compromise a customer and there is no reason to suppose that the disk has fallen into the wrong hands. Nonetheless, HSBC would like to apologise to its life assurance customers for any concern this may cause them. Each customer will be contacted shortly and a thorough investigation into this matter is underway.’
A number of financial institutions have been fined by the city watchdog over recent months following loss of data that was put down to lax security measures. This is the latest in a long line of recent data loss blunders, the most notable of which was the loss of twenty five million consumers’ bank details by HM Revenue and Customs last year.
Related Articles
- Sensitive data loss blunder continue In an age where most people are concerned about becoming victims of fraud and identity theft it seems that authorities and companies are doing nothing
- Personal and banking details lost again The Ministry of Defence has become the latest government agency to be found guilty of losing the personal and banking details of consumers. It is
- Banks closing due to online banking According to one banking official in the UK the popularity of Internet banking is now having a profound impact on high street banks, and is
- Another data loss blunder Over recent months there have been more and more stories hitting the headlines with regards to loss of sensitive data, and it seems that the
- Flurry to protect accounts by lost data victims The victims of the lost bank account data, which was lost by HM Revenues and Customs recently, are desperate to try and protect themselves against
Comments
Got something to say?