Are British records safe?

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Steve Hayes

Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Steve Hayes » 23 des 2007 07:45:04

TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?

I heard that they were planning to destroy the estate duty wills because there
were "other copies" -- but are the other copies safe?


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Frank Erskine

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Frank Erskine » 23 des 2007 09:19:15

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:50:55 +0200, Steve Hayes
<hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:

TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?

It's not just the matter of losing the data - it's more a matter of
data falling into the wrong hands.

--
Frank Erskine

Graeme Wall

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Graeme Wall » 23 des 2007 10:10:08

In message <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>
Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:

TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?

Back-ups isn't the problem, the problem is that confidential data is being
mishandled on an epic scale by a government that wants to bring in the most
draconian ID card legislation on the planet. What is going astray is copies
of the data being transferred between departments or other agencies. The
government still has the data but now, potentially, does every crook in the
world.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy>

Mike Fry

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Mike Fry » 23 des 2007 10:49:22

In article <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>,
hayesmstw@hotmail.com says...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?


I think you'll find that the data hasn't been 'lost' as such, just a
copy or backup of the original data. UK media doesn't seem to care about
the subtle distinction.

I think, that if the fuzz went to some low-grade civil servant's house,
they'd find the disks being used as a coaster!

--
Regards,
Mike Fry
Johannesburg.

Lesley Robertson

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Lesley Robertson » 23 des 2007 10:50:53

"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard
of
backups?

It's not the main copies of the data that's gone missiing. It's working

copies sent out because the info isn't processed where it's stored. They're
getting into a tiz because of issues of trust, general incompetence and
identity theft.
Lesley Robertson

Steve Hayes

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Steve Hayes » 23 des 2007 21:10:05

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:49:22 +0200, Mike Fry <mikefry@iafrica.com> wrote:

In article <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>,
hayesmstw@hotmail.com says...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?


I think you'll find that the data hasn't been 'lost' as such, just a
copy or backup of the original data. UK media doesn't seem to care about
the subtle distinction.

They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data" means.

Or are they deliberately and disingenuously misleading the public -- perhaps
because they have got it in for Gordon Brown?


--
Steve Hayes
E-mail: hayesmstw@hotmail.com (see web page if it doesn't work)
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/famhist1.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7783/

Graeme Wall

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Graeme Wall » 23 des 2007 22:59:49

In message <ndgtm3d8r9pup9j45m641jbrdljtk0kn2g@4ax.com>
Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:49:22 +0200, Mike Fry <mikefry@iafrica.com> wrote:

In article <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>,
hayesmstw@hotmail.com says...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months
important data about British citizens have gone missing from government
departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever
heard of backups?


I think you'll find that the data hasn't been 'lost' as such, just a
copy or backup of the original data. UK media doesn't seem to care about
the subtle distinction.

They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data"
means.

You don't know British journalists these days, half of them couldn't find
their backsides with a map.


--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/genealogy>

Brian

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Brian » 24 des 2007 03:37:11

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:17:59 +0200, Steve Hayes
<hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:


They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data" means.

Or are they deliberately and disingenuously misleading the public -- perhaps
because they have got it in for Gordon Brown?

And/or because they are against the identity cards?

Steve Hayes

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Steve Hayes » 24 des 2007 04:54:43

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:10:08 +0000, Graeme Wall <Graeme@greywall.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

In message <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com
Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:

TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?

Back-ups isn't the problem, the problem is that confidential data is being
mishandled on an epic scale by a government that wants to bring in the most
draconian ID card legislation on the planet. What is going astray is copies
of the data being transferred between departments or other agencies. The
government still has the data but now, potentially, does every crook in the
world.

Thaqt is not how it is being reported by Sky News, which has consistently
reported about "lost data" and the "loss of records", which clearly implies
that the government no longer has the information. I seem to recall that they
broadcast an appeal to people who had booked driving tests to contact the
testing agencies, indicating that the testing agencies had actually lost the
data.


--
Steve Hayes
E-mail: hayesmstw@hotmail.com (see web page if it doesn't work)
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/famhist1.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7783/

FarmI

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av FarmI » 24 des 2007 05:26:55

"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:49:22 +0200, Mike Fry <mikefry@iafrica.com> wrote:
In article <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>,
hayesmstw@hotmail.com says...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard
of
backups?


I think you'll find that the data hasn't been 'lost' as such, just a
copy or backup of the original data. UK media doesn't seem to care about
the subtle distinction.

They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data"
means.

It seems they don't. Sky news seems to have very sloppily taken a report of
a CD being "lost in transit" to mean "lost data". The two are not the same
thing at all.

It seems that increasingly people working in the media don't understand
English. Either that or perhaps they think that the language skills of
their audience is as bad as their own.

Robert Melson

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Robert Melson » 24 des 2007 06:56:39

In article <476f351e$0$6824$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au>,
"FarmI" <ask@itshall be given> writes:
"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:49:22 +0200, Mike Fry <mikefry@iafrica.com> wrote:
In article <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com>,
hayesmstw@hotmail.com says...
TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data
about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard
of
backups?


I think you'll find that the data hasn't been 'lost' as such, just a
copy or backup of the original data. UK media doesn't seem to care about
the subtle distinction.

They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data"
means.

It seems they don't. Sky news seems to have very sloppily taken a report of
a CD being "lost in transit" to mean "lost data". The two are not the same
thing at all.

It seems that increasingly people working in the media don't understand
English. Either that or perhaps they think that the language skills of
their audience is as bad as their own.



Dunno how it is in Blighty, but here in the US, sensational
sells news, particularly on the 24 hour cycle.

And, of course, the reporting is correct, as far as it goes:
the data WAS lost - copies of the data, at any event. If
B is an exact copy of A and the medium on which B is stored is
lost ...

Still, sensational sells news.

Bob

--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable
reason so few engage in it. -- Henry Ford

Kay Robinson

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av Kay Robinson » 24 des 2007 12:16:53

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:10:08 +0000, Graeme Wall
<Graeme@greywall.demon.co.uk> sharpened a new quill and scratched:

In message <e51sm3hh5r8cfvpmf9qncvsum8bfr86gsc@4ax.com
Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:

TV news is reporting that for the third time in as many months important
data about British citizens have gone missing from government departments.

It's all getting a bit much -- haven't British civil servants ever heard of
backups?

Back-ups isn't the problem, the problem is that confidential data is being
mishandled on an epic scale by a government that wants to bring in the most
draconian ID card legislation on the planet. What is going astray is copies
of the data being transferred between departments or other agencies. The
government still has the data but now, potentially, does every crook in the
world.

And we musn't forget that the records of provisional drivers wasn't
lost by the British Government but by an American company. Herin lies
the real problem, that so much of the work done by our civil service
is being contracted out to private companies, in effect, privatising
the government. Too much of this sort of thing has made our government
a laughing stock as they sell off the nations assets, even our MPs
aren't our own anymore :-(

Kay

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

FarmI

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av FarmI » 24 des 2007 13:04:09

"Robert Melson" <melsonr@aragorn.rgmhome.net> wrote in message
"FarmI" <ask@itshall be given> writes:
"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message

They are going on about "lost data" and "the loss of records of 160000
children".

People who work for the media use computers. They know what "lost data"
means.

It seems they don't. Sky news seems to have very sloppily taken a report
of a CD being "lost in transit" to mean "lost data". The two are not the
same >> thing at all.

It seems that increasingly people working in the media don't understand
English. Either that or perhaps they think that the language skills of
their audience is as bad as their own.

Dunno how it is in Blighty, but here in the US, sensational
sells news, particularly on the 24 hour cycle.

True and it's probably the same the whole world over, but consumers usually
get sick of poor reporting very quickly and vote with their remotes.

And, of course, the reporting is correct, as far as it goes:
the data WAS lost - copies of the data, at any event. If
B is an exact copy of A and the medium on which B is stored is
lost ...

:-)) I like it! When you put it like that, I can just see the IT nerds
dining out on that sort of comment.

"I've got a problem, I've just lost my data!".
"Crashed HD?"
"No, there's nothing wrong with it. I've lost a disc!"
"You had a backup?"
"Of course! Do you think I'm stupid!"
"So you haven't lost your data?"
"Yes I have, I just told you I had!"
"No you haven't, but Sky News will think you have"

Well done! I'll retell it tomorrow at Xmas dinner - there will be a few
people there who will really appreciate the tale.

CWatters

Re: Are British records safe?

Legg inn av CWatters » 27 des 2007 21:46:37

Question: When is the best time to admit that you have lost data?
Answer: When everyone around you is doing the same.

If government departments have been sending CDs and mag tapes through the
post for years. They will also have been loosing them for years. It's just
that now is the best time to own up.

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