http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=467604&in_page_id=1770
11th July 2007
A 'horrifying' number numbers of banks, shops and Government departments
are said to be fuelling a £1.7billion a year crime racket by failing to
protect people's privacy.
They have been caught dumping customers' details in public waste bins or
leaving personal information for all to see online.
Their actions have prompted 24,000 complaints to privacy watchdogs, who
said the lapses left customers wide open to identity theft.
Information commissioner Richard Thomas said: 'The roll call of banks,
retailers, Government departments, public bodies and other organisations
which have admitted serious security lapses is, frankly, horrifying.'
The warning comes today in the Information Commission Office's annual
report, which shows complaints about breaches of privacy have risen nine
per cent in the past year.
Among those accused of dumping customers' details in bins are NatWest,
Barclays, Nationwide building society and the Post Office.
Orange compromised security by giving all its call centre staff the same
computer log-in.
The Immigration Advisory Service and the Child Support Agency were also
accused, while the Department of Health left junior doctors' job
applications on the Web for at least eight hours.
There is a 'thriving and lucrative' market for illegally obtained
personal information to be used in identity thefts and fraud, which
costs an estimated £1.7billion a year, the commission says.
Mr Thomas added: 'Over the last year we have seen far too many careless
and inexcusable breaches of people's personal information.'
Received on Thu Jul 12 04:59:37 2007