The damning admission that sensitive data on every family with children in the country, including bank account details, National Insurance numbers and the names and dates of birth of their children, is missing and available potentially to criminals is unprecedented. The possibility of 25 million people at risk of serious identity fraud, because so many people use middle names or children's names as passwords raises worrying general questions about the safety of personal information and particular ones about the way HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) operates and the Treasury's responsibility for that operation. Yesterday Paul Gray, the chairman of HMRC (in practice, its chief executive), resigned and was praised from all sides as an honourable man.
The damning admission that sensitive data on every family with children in the country, including bank account details, National Insurance numbers and the names and dates of birth of their children, is missing and available potentially to criminals is unprecedented.
