'Government betrayed people's trust'

Last Modified: 21 Nov 2007
By: James Blake, Nick Martin

The chancellor admits that the government betrayed the trust of citizens when it lost the personal details of 25 million people.

The chancellor admits that the government betrayed the trust of citizens when it lost the personal details of 25 million people.

"People are entitled to trust the government with their own personal details, and that didn't happen here." The Chancellor Alistair Darling today as he apologised unreservedly for the loss in the post of computer discs with the personal details of 25 million people.

Facing accusations of incompetence, Mr Darling insisted he wouldnt resign. Police are still searching for the two CDs, but there have been no reports yet of any criminal activity relating to the loss.

A question of trust?

Only one in four people trust the government with their sensitive data
Almost two thirds of people surveyed think the organisations they interact with need to take more responsibility when protecting consumer data
70 per cent of consumers say that ID theft is changing their online behaviour

Source: CA/YouGov survey of 2,000 adults in Great Britain, September 2007

The chancellor urged consumers to keep a close eye on their accounts 'for unusual activity'.

The hunt for the missing two discs continues, with the Metropolitan police taking the lead in the search and the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which oversees the HMRC, investigating the original security breach at the agency's Washington office.

The chancellor has said banks are monitoring all 7.25 million accounts whose details were on the lost CDs, but he urged consumers to keep a close eye on their accounts "for unusual activity".

Mr Darling has said that anyone who loses money as a result of the data loss will be covered under the banking code.

Banks this morning reported a spike in calls from worried customers enquiring if they should change their accounts.