History Forum / General / British History / August 2008

Data on 130,000 criminals lost

Confidential information on almost 130,000 prisoners and dangerous criminals
has been lost by the Home Office, sparking yet another Government data
crisis.

By Robert Winnett and Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 7:11PM BST 22 Aug 2008
The Telegraph

The loss of the details, which were stored on an unencrypted computer memory
stick, has raised fears that the taxpayer may now face a multi-million pound
compensation bill from criminals whose safety may have been compromised and
police informants who could be at risk of reprisals.

APPALLING! -- DSH

The home addresses of some of Britain's most prolific and serious
offenders - including those who have committed violent and sexual crimes -
are understood to be among the missing data.

A full investigation is now underway to find the memory stick – containing
information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales, including some
release dates, plus details of 43,000 most serious and persistent
offenders – which was described as a 'toxic liability' by David Smith, the
Deputy Information Commissioner.

The Conservatives have said taxpayers will be "absolutely outraged" and
demanded that Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, make a statement on the
incident.

Jacqui Smith should speak out immediately. -- DSH

Dominic Grieve, the shadow Home Secretary, said he was "absolutely
horrified" by the breach and the "government incompetence" that he said
caused it.  The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "Charlie Chaplin
could do a better job of running the Home Office than this Labour
Government."

Mr Grieve said: "The Home Office is entrusted with a great deal of highly
confidential material and it seems to be entirely incapable of keeping it
secure.  And the consequences are very serious.  They're serious because it
may lead to the identity of the people involved being revealed.

"One of the possible consequences is that criminals will bring legal actions
against the government and the taxpayer will then have to pay damages to
people, who appear to be pretty undeserving, because of the government's
incompetence."

The breach is the latest blow to Miss Smith in her efforts to reform the
Home Office, which was described as "not fit for purpose" by her
predecessor, John Reid.  Miss Smith is said to be furious.

The new scandal follows the loss of 25m child benefit records last year and
details of millions of learner drivers and army recruits earlier this year.
Whitehall departments were ordered to tighten procedures in the wake of the
previous crises and the latest loss has stunned insiders.

A Home Office spokesman said that the memory stick had been lost by PA
Consulting, a private company they employed to track and analyse serious and
prolific offenders in the "JTrack" programme.  The Home Office sent the
personal details on the criminals to the company on a secure encrypted
email, which was then transferred in an unencrypted form on to the memory
stick, which was then lost.

The spokesman said the Home Office was first told by PA Consulting on Monday
that the data might be missing, and that this was confirmed on Tuesday.  The
transfer of any further data to PA Consulting has been suspended pending an
investigation.

PA Consulting should also speak out immediately, ceteris paribus. -- DSH

Home Office officials are now in discussions with the Information
Commissioner about what steps it may need to take to protect those whose
privacy has been jeopardised.  The Deputy Commissioner said last night that
"searching questions must be answered" before it decides what further action
to take.

The stick contains information such as home addresses on 33,000 individuals
who have committed at least six offences in the past year.  There is also
data on about 10,000 people regarded as "prolific and other priority
offenders" by the Government.  Details of all 84,000 prisoners in England
and Wales including expected release dates and dates of home detention
curfews - are also on the stick, as well as information about drug treatment
programmes.

Keith Vaz, a Labour MP and Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee,
said the implications of the loss of prisoners' data were "very, very
serious indeed".

"If you hand out memory sticks almost like confetti to companies that are
meant to do research for you, then you need to be absolutely certain that
when you give such information away, the company concerned have put into
practice procedures that are just as robust as the procedures that I hope
the Government has followed since the loss of the child benefit data," Mr
Vaz said.

The Deputy Commissioner said: "It is deeply worrying that after a number of
major data losses more personal information has been reported lost.  It is
vital that sensitive information, such as prisoner records, is held securely
at all times.

"The Home Office has informed us that an internal report will be carried out
into the data security arrangements between the Home Office and its
contractor, PA Consulting. We expect the Home Office to provide us at the
Information Commissioner's Office with a copy of the report and its
findings. We will then decide what further action may be appropriate.
Searching questions must be answered about what safeguards were in place to
protect this information.

A spokesman for PA Consulting, which has also helped to develop the national
ID card scheme, refused to comment.
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Then PA Consulting should immediately lose the contract and be prosecuted to
the full extent of the law -- ceteris paribus.