List of UK government data losses
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of UK government data losses. It lists reported instances of the loss of personal data by UK central and local government, agencies, NDPBs, etc., whether directly or indirectly because of the actions of private-sector contractors. Such losses tend to receive widespread media coverage in the UK.
| Date | Department | Number of records lost |
Narrative | References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | November | Department for Work and Pensions Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and... |
n/a | USB memory stick, apparently encrypted and containing passwords for an old version of the Government Gateway, a website giving access to millions of records of personal data. | http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7704611.stmhttp://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/11/03/233173/latest-data-blunder-rocks-faith-in-government-security.htm |
| 2008 | October | Ministry of Defence Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.... |
1,700,000 | Hard drive being held by contractor EDS Electronic Data Systems HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,... is found to be missing. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7662604.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7667507.stm |
| 2008 | September | Service Personnel and Veterans Agency Service Personnel and Veterans Agency The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency was officially launched on 2 April 2007 and is part of the UK Ministry of Defence. SPVA provides personnel, pensions, welfare and support services to members of the UK Armed Forces and veterans and their dependents... |
50,500 | Three USB portable hard drives with details of staff are allegedly stolen from a high security facility at RAF Innsworth RAF Innsworth Imjin Barracks in Gloucestershire became the home of the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 2010.The Barracks were named after the Battle of Imjin because of the connection with the Gloucestershire Regiment which formed part of the United Nations contingent in the Korean War, and was... . The Agency holds records on 900,000 current and former personnel. Stolen records included sensitive information about the private lives of senior staff. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7639006.stm http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/09/29/232476/raf-portable-hard-drives-on-service-personnel-stolen.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/26/raf_files_blackmail |
| 2008 | September | Insolvency Service Insolvency Service The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the United Kingdom's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which:* administers and investigates the affairs of bankrupts, of companies and partnerships wound up by the court, and establishes why they became insolvent;* acts as... |
400 | Names, addresses and bank details of up to 400 directors of 122 firms were lost when four laptops were stolen from a Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... premises. |
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/09/18/232355/insolvency-service-suffers-another-government-data-loss.htm |
| 2008 | September | Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust is a NHS Trust that provides mental health, learning disability and addictive behaviour services. It covers the 1.4 million people living in County Durham, the Tees Valley and North East Yorkshire. The trust's annual income is approximately... |
200 | Memory stick with details of patients found in a public park. | http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7619177.stm |
| 2008 | August | Home Office Home Office The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,... |
84,000 | PA Consulting PA Consulting Group PA Consulting Group is a global management and IT consulting and technology and innovation organisation with specialist expertise across the defence, energy, financial services, government and public services, healthcare, automotive and consumer goods, telecoms, and transport and logistics sectors... lost an unencrypted memory stick containing details high risk, prolific and other offenders. |
http://www.information-age.com/home/information-age-today/643396/pa-consulting-data-loss-sacking-is-a-lesson-to-all-suppliers.thtml |
| 2008 | August | Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare services to around 370,000 people from Colchester and the surrounding area of north east Essex. In addition it provides radiotherapy and oncology services to a wider population of about 670,000 across north and mid-Essex... |
21,000 | A manager's unencrypted laptop holding patient addresses and treatment details is stolen from his car whilst on holiday in Edinburgh Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area... |
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/08/12/231799/hospital-sacks-senior-manager-over-stolen-laptop.htm |
| 2007 | December | Department for Work and Pensions Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and... |
45,000 | West Yorkshire benefit claimants' in data lost. | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1574687/Government's-record-year-of-data-loss.html |
| 2007 | December | Department for Work and Pensions Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and... |
000s | CDs with personal data found at the home of a former contractor. | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1574687/Government's-record-year-of-data-loss.html |
| 2007 | November | City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust | 160,000 | "Heavily encrypted" disks containing details of children are lost by couriers. The loss prompted the agency to implement hard drive and USB memory stick encryption systems across all PCs. | http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/06/05/230955/hackney-nhs-trust-encrypts-it-equipment-following-loss-of-child.htm |
| 2007 | November | Foreign and Commonwealth Office Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the... |
50,000 | Details of via applicants were made available on an FCO website. | http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/13/228058/fco-breached-data-privacy-of-50000-visa-applicants.htm |
| 2007 | November | HM Revenue and Customs | 25,000,000 | Two CDs containing details of the families of child benefits claimants went missing in the post. HMRC's handling of data was described as "woefully inadequate" and staff were described as "muddling through" in a June 2008 Independent Police Complaints Commission Independent Police Complaints Commission The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:... report. |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2608805/Thousands-of-personal-records-lost-each-month.html http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/06/27/231267/hmrc-left-the-door-open-to-data-loss.htm http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/06/25/231219/hmrc-staff-in-muddle-over-handling-sensitive-data-says-police.htm http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/06/25/231216/cultural-failures-at-root-of-hmrc-data-loss-says-report.htm |
| 2007 | July | Ministry of Justice Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public... |
5,000 | Hard disk with details of HM Prison Service Her Majesty's Prison Service Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales... staff is lost on the premises of EDS Electronic Data Systems HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,... . |
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=104096 |
| 2007 | May | Driving Standards Agency Driving Standards Agency The Driving Standards Agency is an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport .DSA’s vision is 'Safe Driving for Life'. Its overall mission is to contribute to the public service agreement objective to achieve 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road... |
3,000,000 | Hard disk with details of candidates for the driving theory test was lost in a premises in Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New... by subcontractors. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7147715.stm |
| 2007 | May | Foreign and Commonwealth Office Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the... |
50 | Details of individuals made public after "unauthorised disclosure by a contractor" | http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/08/01/231719/foreign-office-reports-five-significant-data-losses.htm |