[Dataloss] UK: MoD loses data of 600,000 would-be recruits

[lyger]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/18/ndata618.xml

The personal details of 600,000 people interested in joining Britain's 
armed forces have been lost after a laptop belonging to a Royal Navy 
officer was stolen, the Ministry of Defence disclosed tonight.

It is the latest extraordinary data loss incident involving a Government 
department and potentially the most serious as recruits to the armed 
forces are targets for terrorists.

The laptop containing the data was stolen from a vehicle parked overnight 
in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham on Jan 9 but was only made public late 
tonight.

[.]

For those who submitted an application to the forces "extensive personal 
data" - including passport details, National Insurance numbers, family 
details and medical records - has been lost.

[...]