Union fury as teachers' personal data goes missing
Sep 26 2008 By Shahid Naqvi, Education Correspondent
An apology offered to teachers whose personal details were lost on a disc that vanished while being taken to a Birmingham office “does not go far enough”, a union has said.
The NASUWT called for compensation to be offered to any teacher who could prove their details had been fraudulently used as a result of the blunder.
Almost 11,500 teachers’ names, addresses and registration numbers were on the encrypted disc which disappeared while being couriered to the General Teaching Council’s (GTC) office in Victoria Square.
The GTC has written to all teachers apologising for the loss and promising it had strengthened security measures to prevent the information from being abused.
A spokeswoman stressed that no financial information, National Insurance numbers or dates of birth were on the disc.
But NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said that was no guarantee the details would not be used maliciously.
“It is not acceptable for the GTC simply to assert that they believe the risk of fraudulent misuse of data is very remote,” she said.
“Hardly any information is required these days to access financial accounts or to support identity theft. The name, address, place of work and in some cases signature is more than enough.
“The GTC must be prepared to indemnify any teacher who can demonstrate they have suffered detriment and should write to every one whose details have been lost making this clear. The simple apology they have offered does not go far enough.”
The disc contained information on 11,423 teachers who had filled in an electronic form updating their registration details.
According to the GTC, the disc had been sent by a contracted data processor to the Council’s offices in Birmingham using Parcelforce’s full tracking service, but did not arrive when expected.
A search of Parcelforce’s vehicles and premises failed to uncover the disc, but according to the GTC, the evidence available suggested it “is still mislaid within the courier system”.
A statement from the organisation, which exists to ensure professional standards in teaching, said: “If a teacher did not fill in a registration update form during July or August they are unlikely to be affected. Teachers concerned they may be affected can check by calling our enquiry service on 0870 001 0308.”
GTC Registrar Alan Meyrick added: “We are taking this issue very seriously. We know that incidents like this are concerning and deeply regret any worry caused to teachers involved.”
It is not the first time Parcelforce had been at the centre of a missing information row.
Last year it was forced to admit that a package containing personal details of more than 7,000 motorists was lost at its Midland sorting office.
The information was being processed at the centre after the Government’s Driver and Vehicle Agency in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, posted two uncoded discs to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing offices in Swansea, Wales.
A total of 7,685 vehicle-keepers’ addresses, names and car particulars were lost during the bungle at the Parcelforce depot in Coventry.
Last year saw a number of other confidentiality scares come to light. Personal details of dozens of prisoners intended for Norfolk Police were delivered to a private company instead.
The most spectacular was the loss by HM Revenue and Customs of two computer discs containing the entire child benefit database with details of 25 million people.
