Child benefit records appear on eBay

by Chris Dawson

This post was written in November 2007; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

Child Benefit RecordsOne database, 2 CDs, 25 million children’s names and addresses, 10 million adult’s bank account details and national insurance numbers. That’s what the latest spoof auctions on eBay have to offer, following the government fiasco where they mislaid CDs containing the entire countries Child Benefit Records.

The occasional parcel lost in transit is nothing new for eBay buyers and sellers, which is why many insist on trackable signed for delivery services. If the government were subject to PayPal chargebacks they too might be prompted take a bit more care of confidential information.

Back to the eBay spoof auctions, they’re promising the two CDs containing the database. It appears some of the auctions have been ended early but I wouldn’t recommend bidding on those remaining, especially for the one that cheekily states “We can’t guarantee it will reach you in the post, they have a habit of going missing you see.”

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Author: Chris Dawson
Posted at: Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Filed Under Uncategorized
 

Comments

6 Responses to “Child benefit records appear on eBay”

  1. Nick on November 21st, 2007 4:09 pm

    Tax office just rung my wife about this, not happy about the fiasco. They have suggested a change of bank accout number.

    And who foots the bill for time, effort etc? we do.

    But they have my wifes details, enough to steal ID, my kids details, NI numbers my oh my what a mess.

    And this is how long after high street banks were caught binning personal data in the street? though the government might have learnt!

    Surely such sensitive data should be encrypted? lets face it, its not hard to encrypt data to 256 bit, which is nearly impossible to hack…….

  2. Sue Bailey on November 21st, 2007 7:06 pm

    Is this the same gang of people that wants to bring in ID cards? Gods forbid :O

  3. the man on November 21st, 2007 7:10 pm

    Why would the government phone you to tell you to change your bank details, either yourself or your wife are full of it.

  4. Chris Dawson on November 21st, 2007 7:12 pm

    Yep - it’s the ones that want to hold all our personal data on cards and central computer and think they can keep it safe and secure :shock:

  5. James on November 22nd, 2007 6:44 pm

    No, the tax office didn’t tell you to change your bank details. In fact HMRC are doing exactly the opposite, as there is no need to do that and its just scare mongering.

    My oh my, how full of it you are.

  6. Sue Bailey on November 22nd, 2007 11:48 pm

    Keep it civil please people.

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