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Perspective, please!
Apr 23, 2008, 04:09 AM
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Daniel
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Apr 23, 2008, 04:09 AM
Last autumn’s loss by HMRC of two computer disks was an extremely unfortunate event, there’s no doubt.
But the exaggerated manner in which it is still being treated, more than six months later, is bizarre.
It’s as if such a thing had never happened before; like the missing CDs were Year Zero for security mishaps.
Take, for instance, a new press release from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
It reminds ‘chief executives of the vital importance of protecting staff and customers’ personal information following an alarming number of security breaches… in the past six months’.
It then reveals the less-than-alarming news that there have been 94 ‘data breaches by public, private and third sector organisations’ since the loss of the HMRC disks ‘in November’.
Let’s ignore the fact that the Revenue’s bungle was in mid-October, and also that fewer than 100 cock-ups by hundreds of thousands of businesses and other bodies is a tiny percentage hardly worth getting flustered about.
Instead, let's consider the needless taxman-bashing by the ICO, which doesn't seem likely have a grievance with Dave Hartnett and his gang.
Yes, Taxation also has a pop at HMRC from time to time - but not for no good reason.
The attempt by the IOC to make the department seem like the pioneer of security misadventure is pathetic, and is no doubt done in the understanding that the Revenue is like the royal family: it can answer its critics, but rarely chooses to do so.
Although, if I were information commissioner Richard Thomas, I'd be veeeeeeeery careful when I fill in my next self assessment return.
To return to Taxation.co.uk, click here.
But the exaggerated manner in which it is still being treated, more than six months later, is bizarre.
It’s as if such a thing had never happened before; like the missing CDs were Year Zero for security mishaps.
Take, for instance, a new press release from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
It reminds ‘chief executives of the vital importance of protecting staff and customers’ personal information following an alarming number of security breaches… in the past six months’.
It then reveals the less-than-alarming news that there have been 94 ‘data breaches by public, private and third sector organisations’ since the loss of the HMRC disks ‘in November’.
Let’s ignore the fact that the Revenue’s bungle was in mid-October, and also that fewer than 100 cock-ups by hundreds of thousands of businesses and other bodies is a tiny percentage hardly worth getting flustered about.
Instead, let's consider the needless taxman-bashing by the ICO, which doesn't seem likely have a grievance with Dave Hartnett and his gang.
Yes, Taxation also has a pop at HMRC from time to time - but not for no good reason.
The attempt by the IOC to make the department seem like the pioneer of security misadventure is pathetic, and is no doubt done in the understanding that the Revenue is like the royal family: it can answer its critics, but rarely chooses to do so.
Although, if I were information commissioner Richard Thomas, I'd be veeeeeeeery careful when I fill in my next self assessment return.
To return to Taxation.co.uk, click here.
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