The UK government has suffered another embarrassing data-loss episode after it emerged last week that a memory stick containing access information for several dozen government websites, including the tax department, had turned up in a pub car park.
The discovery of the memory stick, which was found outside a pub in Staffordshire
two weeks ago, forced the government to shut down its Government Gateway network
over the weekend while the incident was investigated.
The Government Gateway is an online portal which allows users to sign up to
use online government services across all departments, including the self assessment
tax return system, pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) internet services for employers and
electronic VAT returns. Data security experts have warned that the information
contained on the memory stick could, in the wrong hands, be used to view the
personal details of the 12 million people who have signed up to use the Government
Gateway services.
The incident is the latest in a long line of personal data leaks which have embarrassed
the UK government since it was reported in 2007 that two CDs with 25 million
sets of child benefit records were put into the general mail and disappeared.
They contained names, addresses, dates of birth, child benefit numbers, National
Insurance numbers and bank or building society account details.
In a bid to avert another national outcry over the government's apparently
casual handling of the population's private records, the Department for Work
and Pensions has attempted to assure the public that there was no compromise of security
as a result of the incident.
Atos Origin, the IT company which runs the Government Gateway system, has confirmed
that one of its employees removed the memory stick from company premises in
breach of its own procedures, and that it was conducting a full investigation
into the matter.
TAX-NEWS.COM
Free Tax-News Feed