Government failings on data protection have been laid bare in a series of official reports listing a catalogue of errors and incompetence. And the embarrassment for the government is set to continue as the Information Commissioner immediately promised to take enforcement action.

In a move to get the bad news over in one hit, the government published no fewer than four official reports simultaneously at the end of June.

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, made a statement to parliament following the release of the Poynter Review into the loss of child benefit data discs by HMRC, and a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the loss.
The discs contained the records of 25 million children and their parents, and have not been recovered.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Defence released the results of an investigation by Sir Edmund Burton, chairman of the Information Advisory Council, into the theft of laptops containing the personal details of individuals who were interested in joining the armed forces.

In a bid to point a way forward, the Cabinet Office released the final report on data handling procedures across government. The report set out how the government intends to beef up its information and data security through getting the working culture right, improving accountability and scrutinising performance.

Darling told the House of Commons: “It is quite clear that the loss [of the child benefit discs] was entirely avoidable, and again I apologise unreservedly to everyone who has been affected. The public are entitled to expect that their privacy is respected and that security of highly personal information is the highest priority.”

He said it was essential that the recommendations of the Poynter Review were implemented. The IPCC found no evidence of misconduct or criminality by HMRC staff.

Defence Secretary Des Brown was in similar contrite mood, accepting all the recommendations of the Burton Report following the theft of a laptop in January 2008 with personal details of more than 600,000 individuals interested in joining the armed forces.

Burton’s investigations revealed that the laptop was one of four belonging to the MoD that had been stolen from parked cars since 2004.

The Burton Report said that only the most recent theft appeared to have led to disciplinary proceedings.