Your personal data not safe in their hands: official

Well, there’s been an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into HMRC fiasco where two disks that contained sensitive data of up to 25 million people in receipt of child benefit was lost. They state that the Revenue’s process for data handling was “woefully inadequate”.

That whilst individual members of staff were not to blame for the loss, there was a complete lack of any meaningful systems; a lack of understanding of the importance of data handling; and a ‘muddle through’ ethos. The investigation uncovered failures in institutional practices and procedures concerning the handling of data.
It revealed the absence of a coherent strategy for mass data handling and, generally speaking, practices and procedures were less than effective. Staff found themselves working on a day-to-day basis without adequate support, training or guidance about how to handle sensitive personal data appropriately.

What stands out from this report is the lack of training on data handling given to ordinary members of staff and poor office procedures. Seeems like the usual excuse of cheapskating over training, a muddle through mentality and a total disinterest by management in developing the staff (well, that is echoed in many workplace situations). And will they learn any lessons from this?