12:06pm Thursday 22nd November 2007
AM for south Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen west, Angela Burns, has spoken of her outrage that the government has lost disks containing the details of all families in the UK with a child under 16.
Revelations that two CDs, containing the personal details of 25 million people, had been lost emerged on Tuesday, leading to the resignation of HMRC chairman, Paul Gray.
Government ministers say that a mistake made by a junior official led to the two disks, containing the names, addresses and bank account details of over seven million families, being posted unregistered and unrecorded by internal mail from Newcastle to London.
The disks never reached their destination.
"This is a truly shocking breach of security," said Mrs Burns.
"As a mother of two young children my personal information, including my bank details, their dates of birth and my signature, are now on a missing database and I am extremely angry.
"The Government bleats on at us about protecting our identity and then puts this sensitive information in the post, unregistered and without encrypting it."
Fears are now abounding that the loss could lead to a identity theft on a massive scale. Shortly after details of the lost CDs emerged, a website registered in Arizona claimed it had the data for download, however the site seems to be an expensive scam.
Mrs Burns is offering constituents an identity theft help sheet available from her constituency office in Narberth, telephone 01834 860102.
"Even before our private details were handed over on a plate by the Government, this was a growing area of concern," she said.
"I have drawn up a simple set of bullet points that can help people prevent themselves from becoming victims of identity theft."
HMRC has also set up a Child Benefit Helpline on 0845 302 1444 for customers who want more information.
Have you ever claimed child benefits? Are you worried about the breech in security? Leave your comments below.
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