10,000 East Dunbartonshire families caught up in Government IT scandal
2.41.00pm GMT Thu 22nd Nov 2007
The lost CDs contain the personal information of 25 million people
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The personal details of nearly 10,000 East Dunbartonshire families are among data lost by HM Revenue & Customs.
Chancellor Alistair Darling confirmed this week in a statement to the House of Commons that two computer discs holding the personal information, including bank details, of 25 million people in the UK have gone missing.
Responding to the announcement, Jo Swinson said:
"This new breach of operational security by the Government is the latest in a long line of Government IT disasters which will severely damage public confidence in HM Revenue and Customs.
"The decision of HMRC's Chairman, Paul Gray to stand down is an honourable one but the system for releasing documents must be re-examined and safeguards introduced. It is extremely concerning that millions of families' personal details were simply posted on CD, without being registered or recorded, in what was a clear breach of data protection.
"This shocking failure must be the final nail in the coffin for the Government's ill-conceived Identity Cards scheme. Who is going to feel safe handing over more personal information to a Government that clearly cannot protect the private data they already have?"
According to HM Revenue & Customs statistics, as of August 2006, 9,895 families in East Dunbartonshire were receiving Child Benefit
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