Termed as appalling by a councillor at Bradford, a data breach incident has left thousands furious after a reckless security mistake. The incident involved sending confidential personal information to a Bradford business.
The Department for Work and Pensions accidentally sent out personal information including names, birth dates, education history and driving license numbers to colleagues of David Heseltine, a councillor of a Bradford engineering firm, Bingley Conservative.
Phillip Davies, Shipely MP has demanded answers from the Government Minister of Work and Pensions, James Purnell as to how this kind of a mix up could have happened. Many concerns have been raised over the handling of sensitive data by the Government over the past months and this incident once again shows lack of concern for important information.
Heseltine, to whom the documents were sent, said that they were National Insurance number applications which are personal data and although it was a small amount, it could be a bigger one the next time.
Time and again, anyone handling important information has been asked to be more careful while doing so. Online backup is one of the best ways to ensure data is constantly protected and can reduce the chances of this kind of incident.
