Ministry of Defence data loss larger than feared

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 14 Oct 2008 at 10:24

The Ministry of Defence has admitted that the hard drive lost by EDS contained far more personal information than originally suspected.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Armed Forces minister Bob Ainsworth admitted that the hard drive, "may, in the worst case, contain details relating to 1.7 million individuals who have enquired about joining the Armed Forces.

"For casual enquiries this will include no more than a name and contact details, but for those who applied to join the forces more extensive personal data may be held," he said.

"In some cases this will include personal information such as next of kin details, passport and national insurance numbers, drivers' licence and bank details and national health service numbers."

Ainsworth claimed the data loss was unearthed during an EDS audit, conducted as part of the Cabinet Office's data handling review.

Ainsworth also admitted that it was unlikely that the drive itself would have been encrypted, as it was being held at a secure location.

The Ministry of Defence initially feared it had lost the details of 100, 000 members of the armed forces, as well as the names and phone numbers for 800, 000 people interested in joining up.

Speaking to PC Pro at the time of the incident, an EDS spokesperson claimed: "It's not lost - there's a subtle difference. It could be at the back of someone's filing cabinet."

The MoD is investigating the loss, and has established a helpline for those who think their personal details have been lost.