Government Databases and You

orHow I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love

Information Loss.

By Patrick FaheyMis 304

What happens when governments transfer data?

HMRC(HM Revenue and Customs) lost 25 million individuals' data

The data included information all families in the UK with children under the age of 16

Two disks were being transferred between branches of the government

The information was being sent to the National Audit Office This was to check for benefits fraud

The database

Key identifier is the National Insurance Number Other information included

All family members names living in the same house Partners included

Dates of birth Addresses Employment information Bank account information for head of household

The disks were password protected, but not encrypted

The Black market for your information

Bank account numbers=$30 to $400 Credit cards=$.50 to $5 15 million bank accounts were tied to the

information that was lost The two missing computer discs could be worth

up to £1.5bn to criminals.

Government Reaction

Government only announced problem after a month of the data missing

Set up hotline for fraud awareness/prevention Which told people to check their bank accounts

Sent out letters of assurance HMRC chancellor resigns

Two years on

The government still loses one PC a week to theft The discs have still no been found

Procedures aren't being followed After the first disks were lost, a second set was

posted off. In breach of procedures. Data can still be directly downloaded from

computers with sensitive information There are no controls on removable storage

devices

Changes need to be made

Removable devices need to be disabled Government agencies need to be hooked up to

a secure network Encryption Access to large databases of information needs

to be protected both online and in person Separate databases for names and financial

data Don’t transfer computer information by MAIL!!!