List of UK government data losses

The following is a list of UK government data losses. It lists reported instances of the loss of personal data by UK central and local government, agencies, NDPBs, etc., whether directly or indirectly because of the actions of private-sector contractors. Such losses tend to receive widespread media coverage in the UK.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Date		Department	Number of records lost	Narrative	References
2008	November	Department for Work and Pensions	n/a	USB memory stick, apparently encrypted and containing passwords for an old version of the Government Gateway, a website giving access to millions of records of personal data.	[1][2]
2008	October	Ministry of Defence	1,700,000	Hard drive being held by contractor EDS is found to be missing.	[3] [4]
2008	September	Service Personnel and Veterans Agency	50,500	Three USB portable hard drives with details of staff are allegedly stolen from a high security facility at RAF Innsworth. The Agency holds records on 900,000 current and former personnel. Stolen records included sensitive information about the private lives of senior staff.	[5] [6] [7]
2008	September	Insolvency Service	400	Names, addresses and bank details of up to 400 directors of 122 firms were lost when four laptops were stolen from a Manchester premises.	[8]
2008	September	Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust	200	Memory stick with details of patients found in a public park.	[9]
2008	August	Home Office	84,000	PA Consulting lost an unencrypted memory stick containing details high risk, prolific and other offenders.	[10]
2008	August	Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust	21,000	A manager's unencrypted laptop holding patient addresses and treatment details is stolen from his car whilst on holiday in Edinburgh	[11]
2007	December	Department for Work and Pensions	45,000	West Yorkshire benefit claimants' in data lost.	[12]
2007	December	Department for Work and Pensions	000s	CDs with personal data found at the home of a former contractor.	[13]
2007	November	City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust	160,000	"Heavily encrypted" disks containing details of children are lost by couriers. The loss prompted the agency to implement hard drive and USB memory stick encryption systems across all PCs.	[14]
2007	November	Foreign and Commonwealth Office	50,000	Details of via applicants were made available on an FCO website.	[15]
2007	November	HM Revenue and Customs	25,000,000	Two CDs containing details of the families of child benefits claimants went missing in the post. HMRC's handling of data was described as "woefully inadequate" and staff were described as "muddling through" in a June 2008 Independent Police Complaints Commission report.	[16] [17] [18] [19]
2007	July	Ministry of Justice	5,000	Hard disk with details of HM Prison Service staff is lost on the premises of EDS.	[20]
2007	May	Driving Standards Agency	3,000,000	Hard disk with details of candidates for the driving theory test was lost in a premises in Iowa by subcontractors.	[21]
2007	May	Foreign and Commonwealth Office	50	Details of individuals made public after "unauthorised disclosure by a contractor"	[22]