Privacy breach
May 25, 2009
There is concern that the private information, which vanished in September 2008 from the RAF base at Innsworth, could be used to blackmail employees, according to a BBC report on Monday. Both the BBC and Britain’s Guardian newspaper say the stolen hard drives contained details on a variety of vices involving about 500 employees, including senior officers.
The data had reportedly been gathered during background checks on military personnel and on people applying for positions with the military.
The missing hard drives contained sensitive information, including answers to questions about drug abuse, extramarital affairs, criminal inquiries and contact with prostitutes.
Britain's defense ministry has refused to confirm the precise details of the lost data but says it is looking into how to protect officers deemed at risk.
Not the first scandal of its kind
The reported data mishap comes on top of the government's loss last year of data on the banking details of millions of people who receive child support payments.
More recently, plans for a secret police sting against suspected Islamists were seen protruding from the brief case of Britain's anti-terror chief and captured on film by reporters in front of the prime minister's office in Downing Street.
th/AP/dpa
Editor:Susan Houlton