WEIR CALLS FOR LONG-TERM APPROACH ON MISSING DATA

 

HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME TICKING TIME-BOMB

 

Speaking following a statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the loss of personal by HM Revenue and Customs, SNP MP Mike Weir has described the lost data as a ‘ticking time-bomb’.

 

Mr Weir said:

 

“It is deeply alarming that neither the police nor HMRC seem any closer to recovering the missing data.

 

“While it is a relief that, to date, there does not seem to have been any fraudulent use of the missing data, clearly given the publicity around this scandal, it is not surprising that no-one has attempted to use it.

 

“The Government must, however, take long-term steps to protect the millions of people whose details have been lost. This has the potential to become a ticking time-bomb.  

 

“Alistair Darling’s statement was astonishingly complacent. His refusal, twice, to answer specific questions on how the password supposedly protecting the data was to be transferred between HMRC and the National Audit Office, suggests that security procedures may have been even more lax than first thought.

 

“Sadly, thanks to the incompetence of the government, people are going to have to remain particularly vigilant of their personal details for many more years to come.”

 

ENDS

 

Contact SNP Westminster Press: 0207 219 0074

 

Note:

 

The Chancellor was asked twice to confirm how the password protecting the file was transferred between HMRC and the NAO, and whether this was sent separately, or included with the missing disks. He failed to answer, stating only that in order to be properly protected, the data would have needed to have been encrypted also.