Auditor-general admits failures over data on stolen laptops

THE Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) has admitted that his office failed to adequately identify the risk posed by officials keeping confidential personal data about members of the public and civil servants on computer laptops.

The admission comes after it emerged last month that three out of 16 laptop computers stolen from C&AG officials over the past decade contained data which included personal details of 380,000 social welfare recipients as well as the bank details and Personal Public Service numbers of at least 2,000 staff from seven different public bodies.

The C&AG, John Buckley, acknowledged yesterday that risk identification procedures within his office regarding the safety of personal data held on laptops had failed to identify the scale of the problem.