Sheer madness should I involve the police?
Discussion
In the aftermath of the data scandal at the revenue and customs,
my wife yesterday received a letter from them warning her that her details could be compromised and to monitor her bank account carefully.
The letter they sent came by ordinary mail not registered post or recorded or secure hand delivery.
The letter they sent had her.
Name
address
NI number
and child benefit number
printed on it.
Absolutely
ing flabergasting.
Lets turn a disaster into a crisis.
Absoluteing morons
The question is...
Can I report them to my local police for breaching the data protection laws.
ETA my wife had np knowledge this letter was being sent and would have been none the wiser if it hadn't arrived.
Also presumably this letter was sent to the other 24,999,999 affected parties.
rearrange this sentence to form a well known phrase .. up brewery organize a they piss couldn't in a
my wife yesterday received a letter from them warning her that her details could be compromised and to monitor her bank account carefully.
The letter they sent came by ordinary mail not registered post or recorded or secure hand delivery.
The letter they sent had her.
Name
address
NI number
and child benefit number
printed on it.
Absolutely
ing flabergasting.Lets turn a disaster into a crisis.
Absolute
ing moronsThe question is...
Can I report them to my local police for breaching the data protection laws.
ETA my wife had np knowledge this letter was being sent and would have been none the wiser if it hadn't arrived.
Also presumably this letter was sent to the other 24,999,999 affected parties.
rearrange this sentence to form a well known phrase .. up brewery organize a they piss couldn't in a
Edited by mark69sheer on Thursday 29th November 09:44
Vesuvius 996 said:
Are you being ironic?
Of course you can't.
Who does get involved when data protection laws have been breached?Of course you can't.
fortunately we have recieved the letter so we know at least we have nothing to fear from the letter sent , we do of course have no idea yet or may not ever know wether my wife's security will be comprimised.
It just totally beggars belief that the letter was sent at all with all the sensitive data the original mistake had barring the bank account details.
This letter in the wrong hands could easily lead to identity fraud
Ok I basically couldn't be arsed to be honest.
Nothing would happen and I would feel more pissed.
Its not the police who would be involved anyway but the information commisionaer another govt dept so no point really trying , , just waste more public money.
I only found out this morning reading the paper that some of these letters had ended up in the wrong hands because the addreses weren't checked before the letters were sent.
I just find it totally hypocritical that I myself have had to register with the data protection act and pay money to do so. My registration process pointed out to me the need to keep everything secure under the threat of a punative fine for breaches of the data protection act.
and here we have the govt breaching the act not once but twice!!!
Nothing would happen and I would feel more pissed.
Its not the police who would be involved anyway but the information commisionaer another govt dept so no point really trying , , just waste more public money.
I only found out this morning reading the paper that some of these letters had ended up in the wrong hands because the addreses weren't checked before the letters were sent.
I just find it totally hypocritical that I myself have had to register with the data protection act and pay money to do so. My registration process pointed out to me the need to keep everything secure under the threat of a punative fine for breaches of the data protection act.
and here we have the govt breaching the act not once but twice!!!
thinfourth2 said:
Thats it I'm suing my bank you would not believe what those bastards have done
They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is justing unbelievable
Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Blmey, someone sends me a letter with my name and address on it.They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is just
ing unbelievable Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Whatever next?
Edited by Chrispy Porker on Thursday 29th November 10:21
Should I breach the Data protection act then..
Data Protection Act 1998
The consequences of prosecution:
Minimum £5000 fine; maximum unlimited
Directors get a Criminal Record
Civil Action by the data subject
All costs awarded against your company
Directors will be barred and unable to apply to trade associations
Possible visit by commissioners office, with the power to shut your business down without notice
should the govt breach the act then...?
Crispy please....
fatuous replies like that show that you don't realise the relevence of what I have said.
armed with my wifes child benefit number and her NI number name and address the scope for identity theft would be huge.
They wouldn't have to even get into my wife's bank account. simply open a new one arrange a loan and not pay it back and bingo my wife loses here credit rating through no fault of her own.
I know the jury systems track record of dealing with fraud is poor and that the police don't often get involved instead passing the buck to the bank instead.
I reported a petrol station to the police when I had a card cloned by its staff. £3000 disappeared from my account.
The police wouldn't take action even though staff were cloning cards with a skimmer.
My bank wouldn't take action against the petrol station and neither would shell petrol.
Nobody was interested at all in taking action against criminal activity.
Data Protection Act 1998
The consequences of prosecution:
Minimum £5000 fine; maximum unlimited
Directors get a Criminal Record
Civil Action by the data subject
All costs awarded against your company
Directors will be barred and unable to apply to trade associations
Possible visit by commissioners office, with the power to shut your business down without notice
should the govt breach the act then...?
Crispy please....
fatuous replies like that show that you don't realise the relevence of what I have said.
armed with my wifes child benefit number and her NI number name and address the scope for identity theft would be huge.
They wouldn't have to even get into my wife's bank account. simply open a new one arrange a loan and not pay it back and bingo my wife loses here credit rating through no fault of her own.
I know the jury systems track record of dealing with fraud is poor and that the police don't often get involved instead passing the buck to the bank instead.
I reported a petrol station to the police when I had a card cloned by its staff. £3000 disappeared from my account.
The police wouldn't take action even though staff were cloning cards with a skimmer.
My bank wouldn't take action against the petrol station and neither would shell petrol.
Nobody was interested at all in taking action against criminal activity.
Chrispy Porker said:
thinfourth2 said:
Thats it I'm suing my bank you would not believe what those bastards have done
They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is justing unbelievable
Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Blmey, someone sends me a letter with my name and address on it.They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is just
ing unbelievable Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Whatever next?
Edited by Chrispy Porker on Thursday 29th November 10:21
So you as a police force have never had a campaign or suggested to the public that they should be careful what they put out in the rubbish
So you actually think identity theft doesn't exist?
come on Crispy tell us your official views then instead of silly remarks that have no relevance to the gravity of the mistakes.
Vesuvius 996 said:
So, sportsfans, to summarise.
Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Sorry your summary is wrong.Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Thursday 29th November 10:50
you can prove me wrong if you wish though.
Please post on here your.
Name
address
National Insurance number
child benefit number (if you have a partner who has one)
or in the absence of that your driving licence number
if you wish.
If you are prepared to do that then I will concede that I am a hysterical flippertygib who really ought to get out more..
should you not decide to play along then I will take it that I am correct in my assertion that this govt is a set of incompetent idiots incapable of living in/with the 21st century.
so which way shall it go now Vesuvius?
mark69sheer said:
Vesuvius 996 said:
So, sportsfans, to summarise.
Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Sorry your summary is wrong.Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Thursday 29th November 10:50
you can prove me wrong if you wish though.
Please post on here your.
Name
address
National Insurance number
child benefit number (if you have a partner who has one)
or in the absence of that your driving licence number
if you wish.
If you are prepared to do that then I will concede that I am a hysterical flippertygib who really ought to get out more..
should you not decide to play along then I will take it that I am correct in my assertion that this govt is a set of incompetent idiots incapable of living in/with the 21st century.
so which way shall it go now Vesuvius?
2. Tampering with the Royal Mail is a criminal offence and once a letter is sealed that's that.
I guess we agree to disagree, but if someone is going to nick your personal details then there are a million ways to do it.
mark69sheer said:
Chrispy Porker said:
thinfourth2 said:
Thats it I'm suing my bank you would not believe what those bastards have done
They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is justing unbelievable
Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Blmey, someone sends me a letter with my name and address on it.They sent me a piece of paper with all my bank details on it
it gets worse
It also had all my recent transactions on it
That is just
ing unbelievable Who do i call
Bank statement my arse
Whatever next?
Edited by Chrispy Porker on Thursday 29th November 10:21
So you as a police force have never had a campaign or suggested to the public that they should be careful what they put out in the rubbish
So you actually think identity theft doesn't exist?
come on Crispy tell us your official views then instead of silly remarks that have no relevance to the gravity of the mistakes.
As pointed out banks and others send you letters every month with far more detail which could be of use to a criminal. Indeed I do not see how anyone could send you anything without your name and address on it. Why mention the fact that the letter had your name and address on it. Is this unusual?
If you have kids you will have received letters fom DSS, Tax credits and goodness knows who else along similar lines on dozens of occasions.
If you have a disabled child like me, nultiply this by about 4.
Vesuvius 996 said:
So, sportsfans, to summarise.
Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Seconded.Mark wants to report HMRC to the police as they have sent his wife a letter in the post with her details on it, including her address etc....
I think you need a lie down, mate!!
Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Thursday 29th November 10:50
Mark.
Every day, people leave important documents like passports, diary's, driving licences on buses, trains including these items and laptop computers containing valuable information on the seats of their cars whilst the sit in the pub at lunch time. Many people have unsecured internet sites with no security around the access to their personal data on their computer systems. Many people are careless with credit card receipts and other printed information that is valuable to criminals.
Every day, the above named items are stolen or misappropriated by people who have no moral fibre and are in fact criminals.
Name national insurance number and child benefit number alone are not hugely valuable to someone who is interested in taking your wife's details to do something nasty with them!
I have two children for which we receive child benefit. I am not concerned about this happening.
May I give you some advice on a trend that is sweeping the country at the moment because of this incident. Change your bank card pin numbers That's really going to help isn't it
Every day, people leave important documents like passports, diary's, driving licences on buses, trains including these items and laptop computers containing valuable information on the seats of their cars whilst the sit in the pub at lunch time. Many people have unsecured internet sites with no security around the access to their personal data on their computer systems. Many people are careless with credit card receipts and other printed information that is valuable to criminals.
Every day, the above named items are stolen or misappropriated by people who have no moral fibre and are in fact criminals.
Name national insurance number and child benefit number alone are not hugely valuable to someone who is interested in taking your wife's details to do something nasty with them!
I have two children for which we receive child benefit. I am not concerned about this happening.
May I give you some advice on a trend that is sweeping the country at the moment because of this incident. Change your bank card pin numbers That's really going to help isn't it
Vesuvius 996 said:
1. How else are they supposed to communicate with her?
2. Tampering with the Royal Mail is a criminal offence and once a letter is sealed that's that.
I guess we agree to disagree, but if someone is going to nick your personal details then there are a million ways to do it.
1. Just exactly as they have but without printing her child benefit and national insurance numbers on it.2. Tampering with the Royal Mail is a criminal offence and once a letter is sealed that's that.
I guess we agree to disagree, but if someone is going to nick your personal details then there are a million ways to do it.
Just her name and address would have been fine.
2. and that stops it happening?
This is a mirror of the original decision to send the CD's without stripping out the sensitive data.
There was no need for the NI numbers or Benefit numbers to be on this letter.
Re the original mistake with the cD's I could have written a programme to strip the files sensitive data and create two new files without it in 15 minutes of coding max given the file data structure.
mark69sheer said:
Vesuvius 996 said:
1. How else are they supposed to communicate with her?
2. Tampering with the Royal Mail is a criminal offence and once a letter is sealed that's that.
I guess we agree to disagree, but if someone is going to nick your personal details then there are a million ways to do it.
1. Just exactly as they have but without printing her child benefit and national insurance numbers on it.2. Tampering with the Royal Mail is a criminal offence and once a letter is sealed that's that.
I guess we agree to disagree, but if someone is going to nick your personal details then there are a million ways to do it.
Just her name and address would have been fine.
2. and that stops it happening?
This is a mirror of the original decision to send the CD's without stripping out the sensitive data.
There was no need for the NI numbers or Benefit numbers to be on this letter.
Re the original mistake with the cD's I could have written a programme to strip the files sensitive data and create two new files without it in 15 minutes of coding max given the file data structure.
Re the coding, yes I am sure you could. But the gimp at HMRC told the person who sent the CDs to do it the cheapest way. So he did.
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