Tuesday 20 November 2007

Criminally negligent?

The names, addresses and bank details and national insurance numbers of 25 million people who receive child benefit have been put on computer disk and put in the mail by a government department ... and lost.

No attempt to protect the information by sending it by registered post was made.

How did the government respond to this appalling carelessness? The Chancellor Alistair Darling has told people that they need to be especially vigilant to make sure that their bank accounts are not accessed by criminals!

Why warn us about the perils of identity theft and credit fraud - when the Government doesn't look after the private details we have entrusted them with?

Would anyone other than members of the government escape criminal charges?

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