Breach discovered last week

THE Department of Social and Family Affairs discovered only last week that a laptop stolen 16 months ago contained information of more than 380,000 people entitled to social welfare payments.

It has emerged that the laptop, stolen in April 2007, contained personal information including name, address, phone number, marital status, bank details and PPS numbers of a huge number of people entitled to welfare payments.

The majority — 295,000 — were pensioners. A further 63,000 records were on recipients of single-parent payment, 15,000 on widows’ pensions and 8,000 on orphans’ pensions. There were a small number of files on bereavement grants and carers’ allowances.

There were about 5,000 files on unemployment and employment support payments in three areas including Kilbarrack in Dublin, Newbridge, Co Kildare, and Cobh, Co Cork.

The laptop was owned by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, who uploaded the files onto the laptop for an audit being carried out into social welfare payments. It was stolen from an office used by CAG in the Department of Social and Family Affairs on Dublin’s Pearse Street.

An investigation is now under way by the Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, who described it as a serious incident. All public bodies holding personal data have been asked to examine their policies on storing information.

Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, said yesterday she is “very unhappy” that the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General did not make her department fully aware of what information was contained on the stolen laptop until last week.

“I understand that the department was just informed that the laptop was stolen and that there was no indication given as to the range and extent of the information on it,” she said.

The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General said it only discovered the sensitivity of the information and the significant number of records on the laptop following an examination of its files and interviews with staff.

Ms Hanafin said it was “extremely worrying” that CAG did not encode the information when it was put on the laptop. “It was given in a format which was encrypted and it couldn’t have been read by anybody who accessed it or stole the laptop. But it was unfortunately put in a readable form onto that laptop and then stolen so it is obviously a source of concern for us,” she said.

The support group for older people, Age Action, said the missing information will cause stress and upset to pensioners.

Spokesperson Gerard Scully said: “This could have been avoided if the information had been properly encrypted or better still not been placed on a laptop in the first place.”

Ms Hanafin reassured the public that the information has not been misused in any way since being stolen 16 months ago. Her department will write to all those effected in the coming weeks to offer “advice and reassurance”.

Mr Scully said this is “of small comfort” to the older people effected.

Anyone concerned can call a special freephone help line set up by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on 1800-690590 or email [e-mail].