The Press Association has just reported that UK high street bank HSBC has lost a data disc containing the details of a staggering 370,000 customers.
This disclosure follows a recent run of high-profile data losses here in the UK:
- November 2006. An employee of Nationwide building society had a laptop stolen from his home. Possible missing data included ‘names and account numbers’.
- April 2007. Confidential customs information from HM Revenues & Customs was found on a STREET in Nottingham. No word how it got there.
- November 2007. HM Revenues & Customs again. This time, computer disks containing the names and addresses of millions of Child Benefit recipients were lost.
- December 2007. The government lost personal details of more than three million learner drivers.
In the latest case, HSBC sent the data on a disc via courier. When are these companies going to learn that couriers are far from reliable?
In most of the cases listed above, courier companies are to blame. I remember from my days working in a handling house how lax the security of such companies is. On one occasion we found expensive jewellery (£1k +) from Germany resting at the bottom of a postbag, with no explanation of how or why it had got there.
Losing goods is one thing – but in the modern world of cyber-terrorism and crime, it’s crucial that we don’t allow these bigwigs to get away with these security lapses. The huge fines they currently face from the Financial Services Authority will make them think twice, but it would be even better if they used common sense. Why not simply cut out the middle man and deliver the data themselves, by hand?
Sometimes the old ways are still the best.
Filed under: UK News, Uncategorized | Tagged: data, personal information, security, uk
