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Search forMod's data losses are 'unacceptable'
Friday, November 21, 2008, 07:00
Linda Gilroy for Plymouth Sutton had been contacted by several constituents who feared that their personal details may have been lost by the Ministry of Defence.
The Labour MP, who sits on the Commons Defence Select Committee, also challenged the Cabinet minister over the "disastrous" introduction of a new computer system that led to pay delays for thousands of service personnel.
Only last month an investigation was launched after the disappearance of a computer hard drive which could contain the details of about 100,000 Armed Forces personnel. It was thought to contain more than 1.5million pieces of information, including bank and driving licence details, passport numbers, addresses, dates of birth and telephone numbers.
It was just the latest information security breach to hit the MoD. In July, officials revealed 658 MoD laptops had been stolen over the past four years, and 26 portable memory sticks containing classified information had been either stolen or misplaced since January.
Responding to questions, Mr Hutton said: "I share the frustration with everyone here and outside that we continue to lose personal data – this cannot go on.
"We have to change the culture. It is simply not acceptable for this kind of data to go walkabout, in particular when it jeopardises potentially the financial security and personal security of members of the Armed Forces – they expect better from us, and we have to do better in this regard."
Mrs Gilroy also challenged the Secretary of State over the introduction of a new computer system, called the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) scheme, that was meant to bring greater efficiency, but instead resulted in thousands not being paid their full wages.
Mrs Gilroy said it was the result of "poor decision-making", and pointed to the findings of a review which said there were "weaknesses" in the MoD's leadership.
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