Yesterday Big Brother Watch released details of polling we conducted asking people whether they trusted the government to keep their personal data safe.
The answer we received was that a resounding 86% of respondents did not – an increase from 58% when the very same question was asked 7 years ago.
If you need a reason for this enormous rise, the answer has been delivered today in the shape of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA); who have lost 38 tapes, some potentially containing the coded personal data of British farmers.
The RPA, for those unaware, is responsible for providing subsidies to farmers and therefore holds records including names, addresses and bank details.
According to the BBC report, the Shadow Environment Minister, Nick Herbert, said that the Minister had been forced to make the announcement because trade magazine, Farmers Weekly, was planning to report the loss on Friday.
To tie this story in with another from earlier today, the RPA is one of the bodies that is to be given the power to search homes, seize cash, freeze bank accounts and confiscate property under the Home Secretary's extension of the Proceeds of Crime Act – now doesn't that fill you with confidence?
It seems that every few months we are being told stories of government departments mislaying CDs and leaving laptops on trains. It is therefore no wonder that most people don’t feel comfortable handing over their data for schemes like the DNA database and ID card project.
By Dylan Sharpe