http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/20/ncustoms220.xml By Emma Henry and agencies 20/11/2007 The head of Revenue & Customs has resigned after his department lost the details of as many as 15 million child benefit claimants in what is believed to be one of the world's biggest ID protection failures. Paul Gray quit ahead of a Commons statement this afternoon by Chancellor Alistair Darling on "a major operational problem". It is understood the information was stored on discs, which went missing in transit and have not yet been recovered. The Metropolitan Police are investigating The data includes names, home addresses, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers and bank details of millions of child benefit recipients. It is understood that senior officials from Revenue and Customs were called to a meeting with Treasury officials at the weekend as the scale of the problem emerged. It is not the first security breach involving HM Revenue & Customs. Earlier this month, BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme reported that a CD containing the personal details of thousands of Standard Life pension holders had gone missing, leaving them at risk of fraud. Nearly 15,000 customers were warned to be on high alert for potential scams after their data was lost in transit by an external courier. However, it is thought that the statement does not relate directly to that case. The revelations are likely to pile more pressure on Mr Darling, who has already been heavily criticised for his handling of the Northern Rock crisis. In a statement, Mr Gray said: "This is not the way I would have planned to organise my departure from HMRC." Michael Fallon, the Conservative member of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, said he was "stunned" by Mr Gray's departure. He told BBC News 24: "Paul Gray is a very distinguished public servant who had served successive governments and we thought had a very good grip on the problems at Revenue and Customs." The merger of Customs and Excise with the Inland Revenue announced by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2004 created the biggest department in Whitehall. The giant, minister-less super-ministry, was put under the control of an executive board, although the Chancellor remained responsible to parliament for its operations. __________________________________________________________________ Visit InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/
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