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Department criticised over laptop theft letters

Tuesday, 09 September 2008

A NORTHSIDE man has criticised the Department of Social Welfare following a letter he received informing him that extremely personal information belonging to him was on a laptop stolen 16 months ago.
Last month Northside People reported that private records of people receiving unemployment and employment supports from Kilbarrack may have fallen into the wrong hands following the theft of a laptop in April 2007 from the Auditor General’s office.
Mick Sweeney, from Bayside, discovered that he was one of the 380,000 people affected when he received one of the letters.
He said he was annoyed with the department for taking over 16 months to get in touch and allowing his details to be “compromised”.
“My name, PPS number, payment information, date of birth, marital status and other personal information was all on that laptop,” Mr Sweeney believed.
“Now I’m worried that my whole medical history along with my social welfare information is out there somewhere and could be used by anyone.
“In the letter, the department said it was unlikely that my information was being used, but I should have been able to trust that it would never be leaked in the first place.”

The laptop was one of 16 taken in the last 10 years and of those affected, the vast majority, over 295,000, are elderly people receiving State pensions.
“They really have some nerve taking so long to reply,” added Mr Sweeney.
“They should accept full responsibility for the information being compromised and assure people that it will never happen ever again.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Social and Family Affairs told Northside People that they did their utmost to inform people of the problem as soon as they became aware of it on August 1.
“The Department of Social and Family Affairs is in the process of writing to all of the 380,000 Social Welfare customers whose details were contained on a laptop belonging to the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General which was stolen in April 2007,” the spokesperson stated.
“A freephone helpline number has been in place since Monday August 11, – 1800 690 590.
“This number is clearly printed in bold on the letter along with email and freepost PO Box details for any customers who wish to contact the department about this issue.
“Details are also available on the Department’s website - www. welfare.ie, along with a questions and answers facts sheet for customers.
“Advertisements have appeared in national and local media alerting customers to this issue and informing them that letters would be issued to those customers affected by this.
“All of the banks concerned have received details of the individual customers who were affected, in order that they monitor these accounts for any unusual activity,” added the spokesperson.
Cian O’Callaghan, Labour’s candidate in the Howth ward for next year’s local elections, said there have been complaints about the letter around the area.
"A number of local residents have contacted me about the issue,” he stated.
"The letter fails to explain the following: why the personal data including name, address and PPS number was in the possession of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
“There is no explanation in the letter as to what action has been taken to ensure that this never happens again, nor is there any commitment not to pass personal data onto third bodies in the future, or any assurance that such information will not be stored on laptops."
Mr O’Callaghan said residents deserve to have their personal information treated with dignity and respect.
“Data theft and personal identity fraud can be very costly and can also cause a huge amount of personal distress,” he added.
In a statement last month, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, expressed great concern at the loss of the information but said everything was being done to ensure that customers affected would be contacted.
"I am extremely concerned that this theft of information could cause anxiety to our customers, particularly our pensioners,” said Minister Hanafin. “I am also very concerned that this volume of information was put on a laptop.”

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