Last night, my local radio station had a piece about another breach of confidentiality - all those letters to people apologising for losing those discs from washington, all had their NI numbers on of course....

didnt' realised that the NI number is used as the reference, whether DWP/HMRC/CSA....

do we all think it's time they all changed the way they reference cases? and will they?

because it is in fact a good point, that we're probably all used to not thinking about as it has been the case for a long time.

With name, address and NI number any tea leaf could do an awful lot of damage, and it's all on any letter to anyone from any of those organisations....

No problem.

Once we all have our identity cards, they can use that number.

Tue 22-Jan-08 08:32 AM by ken

Edited to update link

I had a case recently where a client's IB paperwork had gone walkabout, making it difficult for JCP to work out the history of his claim. Now it turns out his records might have been sitting on a roundabout somewhere off the A30 near Exeter.

PROBE CONTINUES TO FIND OUT HOW PAPERS GOT LOST

Gives whole new meaning to stuff falling off the back of a lorry; you couldn't make it up.

What's really shocking about that story is that the German gentleman has now found papers dumped there TWICE!!! Actually, scrap that, the whole of that article is really shocking.

Surely to goodness though, if anyone anywhere in the government or mangement of the civil service has one iota of common sense then the courier firm in question (shan't post the name as it feels mean, check the link) should lose the contract immediately, or at the very least have no chance of getting it renewed.... How likely do you reckon that is though? I despair.

TNT's name seems to crop up lot in these scenario's, is it still part of the Murdoch empire?

Don't know about now but do remember TNT drivers scabbing at Wapping.

As for the last sentence in the article "it's just not good enough" - bit of an understatement eh? Although it'd be a good motto for the various private firms (mmm I wonder which sorting office in Lancashire the article was referring?!?!) which have jumped on the benefits bandwagon.

Claimants can't get their due entitlement but surprise surprise the likes of Capita and TNT are making a nice big buttie out of the system.

One is tempted to wonder if all the reported breaches of confidentiality are simply the tip of the iceberg. I may have missed it, but what happened to the investigation into all the TC bogus claims put through the HMRC website a while back using the stolen identities of DWP staff?

We have also had the Pension Service (twice) sending details to the wrong people in mass mailings when benefits were uprated - I think that might have also been a private contractor, but I can't remember.

Locally there were also issues about missing CDs containing the private details of thousands of council staff on their way to an Audit Commission sub-contractor.

Given the ability of the internet to rapidly move data around the planet for fraudulent purposes, the mind boggles at the potential consequences of mass fraud by criminal gangs. Whatever or whoever is responsible for these shocking breaches, it seems that central government has vastly underestimated the security issues. I.D. cards must be truly dead in the water now and someone should be completely rethinking the National Insurance number system too.