Strangers [data] on a train

“To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” Oscar Wilde might have said the same about the recent spate of data losses in the UK. CD-Roms, memory sticks and paper files containing citizens’ private data have all recently been lost in the post or on public transport.

In the run-up to the introduction of ID cards, you might well think that the Government would be concerned about all this sloppiness. Surely they have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot by demonstrating that our identity is not safe in their hands?

On the contrary. Yesterday the Prime Minister shrugged his shoulders and said that ministers can never guarantee the security of sensitive data. So now the picture becomes clear. This apparent carelessness might really all be part of a softening up strategy prior to ID cards being imposed on all of us. The lesson is this; you will be tagged by the State, and you may well suffer consequent breaches of privacy, but that’s just tough. The world will keep turning anyway.