25m bank details missing, where does the responsibility lie ?

Question

is it the office junior who forgot to post it recorded ? or the fact they put it in the post (TNT) ? who ? why did they post it ? they don't think it fell into the wrong hands, how do they know this ? theres not enough info to use your details fraudently, i believe there is,

Answer 1

it lies with the government-the office junior should not have been given the discs in the first place-such confidential information should only be handled by senior management and as the first poster rightly states the info should have been encrypted and my reccomendation sent through a closed circuit. the office junior should not take the blame for this fiasco as he/she would only be doing what they were told to do by their superiors and i doubt that he/she would have been aware of the contents of the discs in any case. again this puppet government has allowed it's citizens to the perils of international crime-it beggars beleif.

Answer 2

I believe that the minister is trying to say that the bank accounts could not be skimmed
however
You can commit ID fraud with *frighteningly* few details.
If these discs contain bank account details, names and addresses - that is plenty to clone a persons ID.

They will try and blame this debacle on the most junior person, possible.
Politicos are loathe to take responsibility for any mistake (and quick to take the credit for any good outcome)
Just *one more* reason (as if we needed any more) to realise that Politicians in general are all hypocritical piles of vomit.

If the discs are missing it is _stupid_ to say they didn't fall into the wrong hands. they just cannot know. I would have thought that was one of the basic definitions of 'missing'

Answer 3

Of course there is enough info for fraud, child benefit fraud for one thing!

I think responsibility has to lie with the person who gave the orders to mail it, whether that was the junior or his boss, or his boss, right to the top where the decision was made. That person needs to execute an immediate review of policy in this area and then take the rap for the error. Not necessarily sacking, maybe 3/4 wages for a year if they're managedment, something like that.
If a junior did it off his own bat then just sack them, they should have paid better attention to procedure (if there is one).

Answer 4

The person to blame is clearly the person who put it in the post since they sent it normal post - the fools.

However overall I think the department needs to look at their procedures. The government has a secure computer network so why they dont transmit over that in encrypted form rather than 'bunging it on a cd' like amateurs is beyond belief.

Answer 5

What worries me is that the information wasnt even encrypted!! I mean did it really need to be on a disc at all? Surely there would have been a way to safely send the details via the network?

Answer 6

I hope that the "office junior" and their line manager at HMRC has been sack and prosecuted under the misuse of computer "Data Protection Act". But I feel sorry for the head of HMRC whom has resigned, as the result of his incompetent staff.
If there any fraud committed against any of the 25 million people then Alistair Darling should resign.

Answer 7

even i encrypt the files on my computer that contain personel data/information. and why they hell did they post it at all, couldnt they have emailed it? surly a secure encrypted line used by the government would have been safer?? is it to be beleived that we have more security on our home PC then the government?

Answer 8

Lost?

All part of the Grand Plan!

Answer 9

OH DARLING BLAME BROWN OLD BOY , did you not see the twitchy eyes in parly , i bet their bum cheeks were twithcing , yehhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa