Michael Cross writes in the Guardian about the malaise at the heart of the government’s ambitious IT infrastructure projects:
The subsequent loss of the [HMRC child benefit] discs then exposes a culture – not just a one-off error – where unencrypted personal data is regularly sent back and forth between public bodies on physical media, rather [...]

Graeme Paton writes in the Telegraph:
A database listing every child in England will be delayed amid fresh concerns over security, the Government said yesterday.
The register – containing the address, medical and school details of all those under 18 – is to be suspended for five months while a security review is held and changes are [...]

Tom Young writes in Computing:
The national biometric identity card programme should be suspended until security fears have been eliminated, according to a group of academics.
The open letter to Andrew Dismore, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, refutes chancellor Alistair Darling’s statement that the scheme will increase protection against identity fraud.
“These assertions are based [...]

Rachel Sylvester writes about Transformational Government in the Telegraph:
It is not just ID cards that will be jeopardised by the loss of 25 million people’s bank details. What has not so far been noticed is that Mr Brown’s entire strategy for improving the public services is based on the Government getting more power over personal [...]

Henry Porter writes in The Observer:
Under a plan known by the reassuringly dull title of Transformational Government, a huge process of centralisation has taken place, creating countless opportunities for security breaches, as well as abuse by the state. At the time, the government defined it as ‘transforming public services as citizens receive them and demonstrating [...]