This country has seen better weeks than the last seven days. I’m not a massive football fan, but it was still disappointing to see none of the teams from the UK go through to the European Championships last night; oil meanwhile is nearing, if it hasn’t already broken, $100 a barrel and then there has been this week’s incredible mistake at the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with your valuable information languishing somewhere (with someone?)
The shoulder of blame has been shared between a junior member of staff, who apparently sent the disks and HMRC boss Paul Gray, who quit last week when it became evident about the scale of this problem. Chancellor’s previous (PM Gordon Brown) and current (Alistair Darling) are pointing out there is no evidence that it has ended up in criminal hands, yet.
According to the BBC, the official line is that the information is "likely to still be on government property".
Reassuring.
People are quite rightly perplexed and angry as to why this could have happened. As information professionals I imagine you probably more than most. Understanding the complexities and processes that are involved and the safeguards that should be in place with information of this kind falls within your sphere of expertise. In some cases as are organisations like the HMRC. Seeing the incidents around this sorry tale unwind, must leave you shaking your heads in despair.
Anyone feel the information profession side has been let down, never mind the population?
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