Data loss blunders still continue
June 1, 2008
The loss of sensitive information by big agencies, banks, and firms has always been a problem that has put consumers at increased risk of becoming victims of identity theft and fraud, but over recent months the problem seems to have really hit the headlines, with a number of agencies and financial institutions being found guilty of massive breaches of security when it came to the safety and security of consumers’ personal data. It seems that even our own government cannot protect us, as one of the most high profile data loss blunders of last year was made by HM Revenue and Customs, which lost two discs containing the personal and banking details of 25 million people.
A number of other similar, smaller scale breaches of security relating to personal data came to light last year, and as a result many industry professionals called for authorities to take more action against companies that were found to have lost data due to lax security measures as well as those that have lost data on a regular basis. However, whilst banks and agencies have apologised for the various data loss incidents it seems as though these blunders just keep on happening, with another such incident reported recently by one of the UK’s major high street banks.
In a recent report the HSBC has admitted that it has lost personal details of around 370,000 customers, after a disc went missing in transit. The disc was being transported by courier and went astray around four weeks ago according to officials from HSBC. The bank went on to claim that whilst there were some personal details about customers on the disc, which contained mainly details of those with mortgage related life insurance with the bank, the details were unlikely to be of any real use to anyone if they fell into the wrong hands. Officials stated that the details on the discs included the names and life insurance levels for each customer, but no bank or address details.
As a matter of course the bank has still had to inform the Financial Services Authority, the UK’s financial regulator, about the loss of the data, and the regulator is now looking into the matter. Reports state that there could now be an investigation into the matter by the FSA, and if HSBC are found to have lax security measures in place with regards to the protection of customers’ data there could be fines and penalties imposed.
This recent data shows that even after all of the controversy following some of the huge data loss incidents that occurred last year some institutions and agencies may still be failing to do enough to properly protect the sensitive data of consumers, and this means that millions of consumers could continue to face the risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud.
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