Private data at risk as more than 50 laptops lost by State
Monday July 05 2010
MORE than 50 laptops have been lost or stolen from government departments in the past 18 months.
Sensitive personal information on 160 students was contained on one missing laptop. It is the first instance of data about young people leaking into the public domain in this country -- and the data was not encrypted.
An investigation by the Irish Independent has found that 51 laptops, 21 BlackBerrys, one Mac computer and two memory sticks have been lost by 19 government departments and their employees since 2008.
Last night a data protection expert warned that the Government was leaving itself open to lawsuits if individuals' private information was allowed to get into the public domain.
It emerged that "sensitive and personal data" for about 163 students was on an unencrypted laptop stolen in late 2008.
But the Department of Education has flatly refused to say whether the names and addresses on the laptop were of primary, secondary or university students. It said it notified all those concerned as well as the Data Protection Commissioner. The commissioner refused to comment.
The Department of Education also suffered an attack on its website last September, and phone lines to one of its local offices were hacked eight months previously. The Irish Independent investigation also uncovered an incident recorded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, where payroll information for staff was lost. A member of the Comptroller and Auditor General's Office lost a laptop containing the payroll information.
Only two government departments -- the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs -- did not lose any computer data devices since the start of 2008. Most departments said all new laptops were encrypted.
Break-in
Further examples of lost data include:
- Eight laptops stolen from the Oireachtas, including one taken during a break-in at the Kildare constituency office of Labour TD Jack Wall.
- Seven laptops, one Blackberry and three mobile phones stolen from the Department of Agriculture.
- Six laptops stolen on four separate occasions from the Revenue Commissioners. Four were subsequently recovered.
- Five laptops and one USB key stolen from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Eoin O'Dell, a senior lecturer in law at Trinity College, said that although the Data Protection Act was updated in 2003, technology had moved on since. The creation of portable data devices like BlackBerrys and iPhones created an added problem.
He warned that the Government couldn't rule out an individual taking a case if their personal information was leaked.
- Edel Kennedy
Irish Independent
