It seems the British tax authorities have been rather careless with the bank account details of all those 'subjects' who claim child benefit, which is basically everyone with children. The data, just two CDs worth, went missing while out with a courier and it appears no-one signed it in or out.

Leaving aside the quaintness of hand delivering data in this day and age the real scandal is that it took nine days for the government to admit what it had done. Now that's fast compared to some examples but given what online crooks can do in nine hours with that kind of data the imperative would surely be to let banks and account owners know what was going on as soon as possible.

The head of the tax service has since resigned but it only highlights why breach laws, such as we have in California, are required. With a warning and a bit of luck the effects of the online thieves can be greatly reduced. Never mind the embarrassment of a data breach - protect your customers!