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1,000 laptops, flash drives lost or stolen from UK govt. since 2015

Wednesday, 21 December 2016 11:07 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 December 2016 3:06 AM ]

The losses are said to be more than that but some government departments use legal technicalities to avoid responding to FoIs. (File photo)

At least 1,000 government laptops, computers and USB flash drives belonging to the British government have been lost or stolen since 2015.

Records released on Wednesday under freedom of information (FoI) laws showed that in the Ministry of Defense alone, more than one piece of equipment in an average went missing every day, according to a Guardian report.

Up to October, 759 laptops and computers were lost and 32 were stolen, along with 328 lost CDs, DVDs and USB drives belonging to the Ministry of Defense.

Forty –two laptops or computers and eight USB drives also went missing in the Department for Work and Pensions up to August.

According to officials at the department, the thefts “occurred in home/office break-ins and whilst travelling.” They also stressed that all laptops were encrypted.

Since it was set up in July, the recently founded Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had six laptops missing.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs lost 12 laptops while seven were recorded as lost or stolen by the Department for Transport.

The losses are said to be more than that but some government departments use legal technicalities to avoid responding to FoIs, according to Maurice Frankel, the director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information,

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Education (DfE) as well as the Ministry of Justice, Department for Communities and Local Government, Department of Health and Cabinet Office all refused to release their figures, citing security reasons.

Frankel said the DfE’s refusal to even acknowledge it has the information is “complete nonsense,” adding “They have had a common sense by-pass here.”

“They are stretching credibility to well beyond its snapping point with some of these answers. The fact the Ministry of Defense felt able to answer makes it very implausible that these civilian departments cannot,” Frankel said. “The fact they are using very similar language in the responses suggests there has been a memo go round telling them to reply in similar terms.”

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