There is fear among data security experts that the loss of data at the MoD could be much worse than most of us had earlier thought.
Bob Ainsworth, the Armed Forces minister, told parliament that the missing portable hard drive reported by contractor EDS could have the data of as many as 1.7 million prospective recruits.
This estimate given by Ainsworth is far higher than what was originally stated. Officials had estimated the loss of data to be a mere 100,000 records.
The lost data reportedly includes private details of prospective recruits like bank accounts, national insurance numbers and their next of kin.
Ainsworth said that the problem has been aggravated by the fact the reported missing portable hard drive was unencrypted. This means that anyone having access to that hard drive can get all the records.
The new report would make MPs more infuriated than they were when news of data loss was made public earlier.
Many officials were already asking for new regulations related to data security in the wake of this incident. Many referred to this incident as the reckless approach that the government takes towards personal information of people.
This is just one of the recent incidents of data loss after the loss of three hard drives carrying personal details of more than 50,000 RAF members.
