I can see no reason whatsoever that sensitive data like this, which contains the personal details of thousands of people, should be allowed to be downloaded onto a local hard disc.
Yes, it may be that somebody may want to analyse this data (perhaps offline) but there is no reason for this data to contain any personal details.
I am sure (at least I hope) that the banks do not allow personal data of their customers to be downloaded onto the laptops of their employees, so why the MoD and other government departments?
The Pharmaceutical industry collects masses of data in the clinical research process from patients (sorry, I mean subjects) taking part in clinical trials all over the world on a daily basis. This data is then analysed by the stats department within each pharma company. None of this data contains personal details of the people taking part in the trials. If they can do it so can government departments.
Anyone who authorises a software program to be able to download personal data onto a local hard disc should be responsible and accountable - in court if necessary.
Do you have data on your local disc which could embarrass you (or the MoD) if found in the boot of your car or stolen from your home??
Think long and hard about this hard now.
.....and what are you going to do about it??
Last edited by Frelon; 21st Jan 2008 at 13:15.
Reason: Punctuation!