3m learner driver details lost
Monday, 17 Dec 2007 20:32
Personal information of three million learner drivers lost by government contractor
Three million learner drivers have had their personal details lost, the government has announced.
Transport secretary Ruth Kelly told MPs that an American contractor lost the information in Iowa in May this year.
But she insisted that the data loss was restricted to personal details and did not include individual bank account or credit card information.
The hard drive mislaid by the US contractor did however contain the names, postal addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of three million people who took their driving theory tests between September 2004 and April 2007.
Today's admission from the government is the latest data loss row to surface in the last two months.
In November it emerged that HM Revenue and Customs had lost the personal and financial details of 25 million child benefit claimants, while the Driving and Vehicle Agency of Northern Ireland mislaid data relating to 7,000 people earlier this month.
Addressing MPs, Ms Kelly said that the loss of learner drivers' details had highlighted the risks associated with physical transfer.
She said that the public had a "right to expect that the information given to government is held securely" and unveiled steps to ensure a similar loss did not occur again.
Ms Kelly added that there was no external indication of the mislaid computer drive's contents, meaning that its loss did not represent a "substantial risk".
But she nevertheless apologised for the uncertainty caused by the episode.