Jack Straw has ordered an inquiry into the loss of a computer hard drive containing the details of up to 5,000 employees of the justice system.
The justice secretary is also trying to establish why he was not told of the blunder, which happened in July 2007.
The details, of employees of the National Offender Management Service in England and Wales, including prison staff, were lost by private firm EDS.
Justice Minister David Hanson said he was “very angry” at the loss.
‘Deeply regret’
“I await the enquiry to see the details of the information, but my assessment is that the confidentiality and the security of staff will
BBC NEWS | UK | Data on 5,000 justice staff lost.
EDS, the company who lost the data, is a HP Company and previously produced advice on how companies can reduce data loss. They state that:
“The encryption of all data that is moved offsite is crucial, but should be mandatory for portable end-user devices such as laptops and PDAs, as well as all removable media.”
The irony!