UK government secrets found in pub car park

"An inquiry was under way today after a memory stick with user names and passwords for a key government computer system was discovered in a pub car park. The Mail on Sunday said ministers had ordered the emergency shutdown of the Gateway website - which covers anything from tax returns to parking tickets - while experts checked to ensure people's private details were not compromised. The loss of the memory stick is another embarrassment for the Government in a long series of data mishandling incidents which began with the loss of the entire child benefit database."

Full story in the Independent.

See also the Times article, in which Gordon 'ID Card' Brown admits 'we cannot promise that every single item of information will always be safe because mistakes are made by human beings. Mistakes are made in the transportation, if you like in the communication, of information.'

Previously on Blather.net.

UK government cannot be trusted with data of any kind:

Intelligence files about Al Qaeda and Iraq left on a train.
Loss of data drive containing personal information of 100,000 serving in armed forces.
Biometric identification can be forged.
CDs containing entire child benefit database lost.
Obviously stupid plans for identification cards.
Evil and absurdly expensive scheme to collect more personal data.

Ireland is no better:

380,000 social welfare files on stolen laptop.