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Gordon Brown has admitted the government cannot guarantee that every piece of data it holds on the British public will be kept safe. Reflecting on the latest data loss, the PM said Atos Origin’s behaviour was “unacceptable” but said promises could not be made to protect similar data in the future. He said the focus must be on preventing other data lapses, and, alluding to the IT contractor’s loss, spoke of his determination to “root out this problem of leaving things around.” Yet pressed on the issue during his trip to the Gulf, he said: “We cannot promise that every single item of information will always be safe because mistakes are made by human beings.” Speaking in a recent phone link with ITN, the Prime Minister added that these mistakes were being made in the “transportation of information,” not the handling or storage. Despite this, the government will respond to the latest data lapse by giving new instructions to officials on handling sensitive data, just four months after emergency guidance was issued. Just a “handful” of people had their encrypted details on the latest lost memory stick, but officials are being pressed to take a tougher line in such breaches to avoid political fallout. IT analysts also say that, since the loss by PA Consulting, they have received calls for sensitive data projects to be taken out of the hands of contractors and given to civil servants. Meanwhile, the minister whose department runs the Gateway system, which has now resumed full service, has apologised after confirming he left confidential files on a train. The admission from James Purnell, the work and pensions secretary, coincide with a parliamentary answer showing at least 230 officials were punished for data offences last year. The figures mean that a government official is sacked or reprimanded almost every working day for breaching data protection laws spelt out nationally or guidelines in place internally. Nov 4, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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