Stuff you've lost in the post

[Mark]

I once posted off a mobile phone for repair, didn't send it registered delivered and I never saw it again, very stupid.

But then again at least it wasn't CD's with the bank account details of 25 million people. :mark:

[Dave B]

Honestly, I've never lost anything in the post. I've had plenty of things get delayed, but they've always turned up in the end.

Oh, and yesterday someone delivered some data CDs that I didn't order... :p

[jim mcglinchey]

...evn in Belfast they were tearing the HMR&C offices apart, breaking open the drawers of absentees etc, looking for those things.

I dont know how many times I posted an Amazon DVD rental back and they didnt get it.

[GridGirl]

I've never lost anything in the post but I did sell a signed Martin Johnson autobiography on Amazon once. After about a week the guy who I sold it too started emailing me about how it hadn't turned up, so I told him I'd sent it recorded delivery and gave him the number to track it etc. He emailed me back a day or so later saying the postman's bike had been stolen along with his book and all the other post he was delivering. The police found the bike and lots of packaging. He ended up claiming off Royal Mail to get his money back.

[leopard]

It is preferably better registered delivery service, unless you are regular user of their service and know them well. They could make the mistake by intention or solely human error.

Similarly, Would you receive stuff you didn't order? ;)

[Drew]

Surely, such confidential information should be sent by courrier?

I've lost a birthday somewhere, it was sent to me during their strikes.

[Mark]

Surely, such confidential information should be sent by courrier?

Not just courier, secure transport, the same they would use for cash.
But things like that should not be sent in the first place. If they need to do an audit of the data then the auditors should go to the site, so they have to leave their cozy London offices and go to London, boohoo!

Failing that they can transfer the data via encrypted link, it's not difficult!

[leopard]

Similarly, Would you receive stuff you didn't order? ;)

I think I would receive it if my name and address was correct, It might be one of my friends give me surprise of an xrated movie for my birthday. :)

[MrJan]

Couldn't they have used e-mail? I know there are loads of hackers and that but I'd have thought the info is already on a computer system somewhere.

[martinbalmer]

Couldn't they have used e-mail? I know there are loads of hackers and that but I'd have thought the info is already on a computer system somewhere.

E-mail seems to go missing far more often that 'snail mail' for me...

Internet E-mail isn't really very secure because copies of a message can be left on any of the servers that handled it in the chain between sender and receiver. Also, unless you encrypt your message before sending, the whole contents is sent 'in the clear' and readable by anyone who has been able to intercept it.

A secure direct digital link would be the best way of communicating such data and even then it should be kept to only that information necessary for the task in hand.

It was mentioned in Parliament yesterday (true or not) that the NAO requested sensitive details be removed before sending. In yet everything was sent, whether needed or not.

[millencolin]

i thought i lost my tickets to the biggest music festival in the country in the mail (the big day out)... they turned up 3 days before the event... eeeeep! This year i got em registered posted!

[GridGirl]

I dont see why the entire database was being sent to London anyway. :s Modern auditing takes place on a sample basis so there is no way more than a couple of million of those names would be required to do any type of audit test. Its not exactly hard for someone to go to HMRC and pick things at random i.e. 200,000 surnames beginign with "S" and so on.

[Hazell B]

When I worked at Royal Mail it was an over 3 million to one chance that mail would vanish. Even then most of it was recovered and sent at a later date - mainly because small envelopes tended to get caught in the old fashioned bag corners.

Now it seems couriers can lose the same item twice (or rather a repeat sending) and nobody bothers looking for three weeks :mark:

Not only a pathetic effort all around, but a pretty good argument against ID cards and government handling of all information.

Put it this way, if Tesco's Clubcard system did the same thing, our government would be calling for shops to stop holding information then slapping all sorts of laws on them within a month.

[inimitablestoo]

Modern auditing takes ...

You've hit the nail on the head immediately. Modern stuff probably doesn't involve doing much, but since most civil service procedures are several years out of date it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that things go wrong on such a massive scale like this. We've been having a good laugh watching the government's embarrassment on this one the last couple of days :)

One thing that's definitely been lost in the post: any last lingering public support for Gordy's beloved national ID card scheme. Well, you probably might still get an ID card, but there's no guarantee it'd be your identity that'd be on it...

[DonnieDarco]

Well, my details are amongst the 25 million, and I'm absolutely thrilled to bits as you can imagine.

Its always reassuring to know that you've been guarding stuff all this time only to have a government department lose it!!

[nicemms]

My mums and therefore some of my details have been lost! How great!

Never lost anything in post, at least I don't think I have.

[MrJan]

Steve McLaren's P45. If anyone sees it can they make sure they pass it on to him as soon as possible, I sent it 12 months back but the ****** doesn't seem to have received it.

[Drew]

Steve McLaren's P45. If anyone sees it can they make sure they pass it on to him as soon as possible, I sent it 12 months back but the ****** doesn't seem to have received it.

:laugh:

[BTCC Fan#1]

I was actually just about to start a thread about the frankly staggering loss of 25 million UK citizens personal data in the post..

Seriously, mind-numbing incompetence by someone involved with HM Revenue and Customs . And I think a real nail in the coffin of the governments loathsome ID card scheme.

[Hazell B]

Steve McLaren's P45.

I hear he's had the message now :p :

If anything, McLaren's sacking came at just the right time - it stole all the headlines about ID fraud right when they were getting interesting. A chance has been missed to make the whole ID card idea seem utterly mad over a few days in the news, something we'll all regret later on.
This loss of data will blow over now and barely register in our minds once the push for ID cards starts in earnest. By then, probably right after a nasty murder hits the headlines, most of the UK population will be back wanting cards :mark:

Although I hear McLaren's card will be missing it's corners ........

[Erki]

They should try BitTorrent to send those banking things. Nothing ever seems to get lost there, even yet-to-be-released music CDs not!

[inimitablestoo]

This loss of data will blow over now...

Until the next one occurs. I'd give it about a week ;) Seriously, the number of people complaining about TNT's inadequacies in our office, it's a surprise anything actually arrives...

[J4MIE]

Had plenty of photos I've sent arrive damaged, crumpled and ripped. Luckily always send recorded delivery with royal mail so am covered :up: