By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : The personal details of almost every child in Britain – and in some cases their parents – have been lost by the customs and revenue department, the country’s finance minister told parliament Tuesday to gasps of shock.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the names, addresses and dates of birth of the children, as well the national insurance numbers and, in some cases, the bank details of parents claiming child benefits had been lost.
Child benefit is a fixed amount of money that is paid out by the government to all families with children under the age of 16.
The total number of people affected is put at more than 25 million in a country of 60 million, Darling said, urging people to monitor bank accounts for “unusual activity.”
The scandal – the biggest ever personal data loss in Britain – was detected after two computer disks with details of every British family with a child under the age of 16 went missing, prompting the opposition Conservative Party to describe the situation as “catastrophic.”
Also Tuesday, Revenue and Customs chairman Paul Gray resigned, admitting an “extremely serious failure” of security.
In a statement read out to the British lower house of parliament before audibly astonished MPs, Darling said two discs containing details of 7.25 million families were sent to the National Audit Office Oct. 18 but failed to reach their destination.
The chancellor said a junior official in the department failed to follow standard procedures and despatched a “full copy of the data” by courier rather than by recorded or registered mail.
When it became clear the discs had not arrived, the official sent the information again by registered post. The chancellor said he found out 10 days ago.
“The police tell me that they have no reason to believe that this data has found its way into the wrong hands. The police are not aware of any evidence that it has been used for fraudulent purposes or criminal activity,” Darling said.
“I deeply regret this and apologise for the anxiety caused.”
Although Downing Street said Prime Minister Gordon Brown had “full confidence” in Darling, there may be a political fallout of the case. Darling is already facing criticism over the government’s handling of the financial crisis facing the bank Northern Rock.
Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman and acting leader, said earlier today: “Cumulatively, it is very damaging, taken together with other treasury disasters…
“The data lost – bank account numbers, names and addresses – represents a gold mine for the thieves and is much more valuable to them than credit card numbers or taxpayer ID numbers,” said Avivah Litan of the technology analysts Gartner.
“In fact, in the black market, bank account numbers sell for the highest price, or between $30 and $400 (£15-£200), which is significantly more than the fifty cents to five dollars that criminals pay for credit cards,” she said.