If you lose your laptop you will go to gaol

The Ministry is mother. The Ministry is father.

...an interesting paradigm shift, isn't it?

* a few years (OK, decades) ago, boffins kept telling us how computer technology would make our lives easier, how humans would not have to do manual labor any more (robots would do it for us) etc. etc.
* here, we have a nice example of such promises miserably failing: after much ado and lots of trying, computer technology has miserably failed to solve a problem (data protection as a whole). So - return to sender! The onus is put back on the individual, only with the problem itself enlarged monstrously by the same computer technology that was supposed to help us.

Great, isn't it?
...and here's a bonus track to support the he article: In 2006, Intel Corp. has put in place a policy that classifies all its employees' personal data (names, social security numbers, dates of birth and the like) as Intel Secret (while the corresponding security status was wishy-washy before). The main effect of this move (besides raising awareness of a problem) is to make individuals personally accountable for any security breeches. Et voilá!

The only reason why the information commisiioner has been fairly useless in the past is because he doesn't have any real powers. This will hopefully change that.

Time and time again organisation have been caught acting like numpties WRT data protection. I'm sorry why does a building society allow a laptop with 40,000 cuustomer details to be stored ina car overnight?. The plod are to busy catching speeding motorists to go act to the theiving little scrots who break into cars. Damn it you've got me in a rant know.

Big up to the information commsioner (and i thought you'd never hear somebody say that!!!)

People in control of such data ought to be required to put the data on encrypted drives such as those created by TrueCrypt, which automatically dismount when the user logs off.

However, should the data not be secured in such a manner, all kinds of liability, civil as well as criminal, ought to be levied on the parties involved. Perhaps lashings should be brought back as well.

"if they have not done enough to protect the personal data stored on it."

Would it be "enough" to put a password on the user account ?

After all, no one should be able to access the user data without that password. This is the job of the operating system among other things.

I agree with what Drew and BB said. It should be a crime for a person/business to negligently handle people's personal data.

Why is there a need to take work home anyway? What has happened to doing your work AT WORK? Someone who has the task of handling these databases of personal details should be made to do their work AT WORK, in a safer environment.

but still work from home, using a secure VNC connection! that way the data never leaves HQ and the employee still gets to use the data and get on with what ever they need to do their job. and the IT department can then enforce secure passwords that change frequently, which is more difficult to enforce on people's laptops

...someone misplaces not a laptop, but, just for example, two discs?

Hypothetically question of course.


Nice to see that idea catching on. I've been promoting it for years.

Seems that some pesky Human Rights lobbyists don't like it though. Something to do with respect.

Yeah, respect for the nitwit that put x-thousand people's personal details in danger. Sure.

Bring back the arenas ! Let the lions loose and we'll see how many consultants are ready to leave a laptop visible in a car any more !