Privacy chief notified of 94 data breaches since HMRC debacle

The Information Commissioner has been notified of almost 100 data breaches by public and private sector organisations since the loss of 25 million people's details by HM Revenue and Customs last November, according to figures released yesterday.

Half of the 28 private sector security breaches were by financial services companies.

The problem of the loss of personal information gained in profile in the aftermath of HMRC's loss of two discs containing the entire register of people claiming child benefit last year. The information on the discs included names addresses and banking details of 25 million people, leading to widespread fears of identity theft.

Since then, though, organisations in the public, private and charity sectors have all lost data in circumstances that led to them being reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

"It is particularly disappointing that the HMRC breaches have not prevented other unacceptable security breaches from occurring," said Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. "The government, banks and other organisations need to regain the public’s trust by being far more careful with people’s personal information."

The cases which have been reported to the ICO include the loss of whole computers, USB memory sticks containing data and computer discs containing unencrypted data. Paper records have also gone missing, and the information on all these formats has included financial records, health records and other personal information.