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PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS
17 December 2007
Susan Kramer
questions Transport Secretary on new revelations of missing data
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Susan Kramer described the latest news that information for 3 million driving test candidates had gone missing from a secure site in Iowa, United States as “mind-bending.” Ms Kramer questioned the Transport Secretary on whether the information could be used for criminal intent and what changes should be put in place to prevent further incidents of data loss.
Ms Kramer said:
“Will the Secretary of State confirm that the information was sufficient for fraudsters to use to create false identities? Does she know, or has anyone checked, whether any of the data have been used fraudulently? What information has been passed to the people involved so that they can put in place some kind of protection?”
“The Secretary of State said that the information was outsourced in the spirit that it should be taken care of, but surely much more than that is involved. The message is clear: the culture must change. She has been saying that electronic data transfer will provide adequate protection, but even the Pentagon has been hacked, so surely that would just change the method by which data are either lost or stolen. Does she not agree that the Government should be minimising data holding and that rapid destruction of data should become part of their culture?”
“While she is at it, will the Secretary of State be kind enough to tell me when she will answer the questions on data handling that I asked her Department on 27 November? Perhaps those questions were the reason why she got the information about Pearson on 28 November. Because I have received no answer, I would be interested to know what other information has gone missing that would be exposed by those questions.”
“The magnitude of the loss that the Secretary of State announced will not be obscured by the measures that she mentioned, worthy though they might be, or those that the Chancellor announced a few moments ago. If my bank behaved like this, I would change it. Is not that an important message for the Government?”
Click here to read Susan Kramer’s response to the statement in full
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Susan Kramer described the latest news that information for 3 million driving test candidates had gone missing from a secure site in Iowa, United States as “mind-bending.” Ms Kramer questioned the Transport Secretary on whether the information could be used for criminal intent and what changes should be put in place to prevent further incidents of data loss.
Ms Kramer said:
“Will the Secretary of State confirm that the information was sufficient for fraudsters to use to create false identities? Does she know, or has anyone checked, whether any of the data have been used fraudulently? What information has been passed to the people involved so that they can put in place some kind of protection?”
“The Secretary of State said that the information was outsourced in the spirit that it should be taken care of, but surely much more than that is involved. The message is clear: the culture must change. She has been saying that electronic data transfer will provide adequate protection, but even the Pentagon has been hacked, so surely that would just change the method by which data are either lost or stolen. Does she not agree that the Government should be minimising data holding and that rapid destruction of data should become part of their culture?”
“While she is at it, will the Secretary of State be kind enough to tell me when she will answer the questions on data handling that I asked her Department on 27 November? Perhaps those questions were the reason why she got the information about Pearson on 28 November. Because I have received no answer, I would be interested to know what other information has gone missing that would be exposed by those questions.”
“The magnitude of the loss that the Secretary of State announced will not be obscured by the measures that she mentioned, worthy though they might be, or those that the Chancellor announced a few moments ago. If my bank behaved like this, I would change it. Is not that an important message for the Government?”
Click here to read Susan Kramer’s response to the statement in full
Applicability: this item refers to the UK.
