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There are increasing fears that Britain could suffer a repeat of the HM Revenue & Customs data-loss as the scale and breadth of personal information held by government bodies continues to grow inexorably.
As the police step up their search for the two missing Inland Revenue computer discs containing the banking and personal details of 25 million people, ministers have been warned that the potential exposure to theft and identify fraud could be present for many years to come.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling revealed the "inexcusable" blunder to incredulous MPs.
And in the most chilling assessment since the Government admitted the security blunder, the man in charge of setting up the country's biggest medical records database has said he does not believe it is possible to make such systems foolproof.
Richard Jeavons, the director of IT implementation for the National Health Service, where there are plans to put 50 million patients' details on the database, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that, when it came to protecting information, "you cannot stop the wicked doing wicked things".
Yesterday, as he faced a barrage of criticism over the Government's handling of the crisis, Prime Minister Gordon Brown performed a swift policy u-turn by announcing that Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, would be given new powers to carry out spot checks on the databases held by public sector organisations.
As recently as October 25, the Government rejected Thomas's request for such a power in response to a Lords committee.
But yesterday Brown appeared to relent, adding that he would also consider the commissioner's plea for the creation of a new criminal offence of "reckless disregard of data protection principles". He insisted: "We will do everything in our power to ensure data is safe."
Government agencies now hold more personal information on individual members of the public than ever before. And in the next five years there are plans to add hundreds of millions more personal records to new or expanded databases.
The UK's DNA database is the biggest in the world, holding four million profiles and growing by 30,000 every month. It includes records for 900,000 children, 108 of whom are under 10, raising concerns about the threat posed to children from the unchecked growth in personal information registers.
Ministers are also planning to set up another database listing the personal details of all children in England, including their age and where they live. ContactPoint, previously known as the "information sharing index", is supposed to be used by social workers, but children have expressed fears that the information could attract paedophiles and others who should not have access to their personal details.
While the thrust of the criticism over the HMRC data scandal has been directed at the Government, there is growing anxiety about the exponential growth of databases belonging to private companies. These include organisations handling details about finances such as banks, building societies, loan companies and credit checking agencies. But there are also worries about the role of marketing and sales companies that have grown their own private databases which they use to sell personal information.
Internet shopping has brought new exposure to identity fraud. Millions of people surrender personal and financial information when they conduct transactions on the internet or join social networking websites.
In an echo of events that foreshadowed the security blunder at Inland Revenue, the Government has announced plans for the General Register Office in England and Wales to be merged with the Identity and Passport Service from next April.
The blunder at HM Revenue & Customs followed a merger of Customs and Inland Revenue.
Helen Lord, the compliance director at the credit reference agency Experian, said yesterday: "The children whose names, addresses and dates of birth have been lost are also at risk, especially those who are between 15 and 17 years old now.
"The fraudsters will wait until they turn 18 and start applying for loans, credit cards, mobile phone contracts and other credit products in their names. That could have a catastrophic effect on their ability to get on the housing ladder, rent a flat, obtain their first credit card, obtain a loan for their first car, even open a bank account."
- INDEPENDENT
