21 November 2007

HM Revenue & Customs loses data of Child Benefit customers
It was yesterday revealed that HM Revenue & Customs ("HMRC") has lost two password protected (but not encrypted) discs containing data about all families who are receiving Child Benefit, which is approximately 25 million people.

The data was lost when a junior official at HMRC copied data and sent it by couriers TNT to the National Audit Office.

The data lost includes: 

Banks and building societies are aware of this matter and have advised that they have appropriate safeguards in place to protect customers. The advice of banks is there is no need for customers to ask for a new account or to contact their bank or building society. However, those affected have been told to keep a close eye on their bank accounts for any suspicious transactions and be wary of any unsolicited phone calls asking for passwords or personal information. It has also been suggested that if your password uses any of your personal data, for example your child's name or date of birth, you may also wish to consider changing any passwords you use.

In Mr Darling's speech to the House of Commons he assured MPs that none of those involved would suffer any financial loss if they were the innocent victims of fraud as a result of the failure.

Following the resignation of HMRC's Chairman, Paul Grey earlier in the day, the HMRC Director General, Dave Hartnett, last night issued a personal letter of apology to all families affected. These should therefore be arriving on door steps soon.

This is obviously an extremely serious breach of security and worryingly comes just weeks after a CD containing the personal details of thousands of Standard Life pension holders had gone missing, leaving them at risk of fraud.

If you do experience any problems with the receipt of your Child Benefit payments, you are asked to contact HMRC on 0845 302 1444 between 8am and 8pm on any day of the week (closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and new Years Day).

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