Having just called the helpline I now know that my details are amongst those lost.
Given that I left the RAF just over a year ago, I can think of no possible reason why a RN Petty Officer recruiter attending an URNU town night in Brum should have in his possession my personal, legal and financial data and then leave it unattended. This simply is not good enough: a balls up of epic proportions from the PO involved but also mismanagement of sensitive information at a higher level.
It seems that some of the personal security lessons of the IRA years have been forgotten by this chap and his heirachy on a monumental scale. Potentially Al Q could now have the home address and family details of everyone who has joined the Armed Forces in the last 10 years (the overwhelming majority of all serving personnel) and the Nigerians could have a bumper harvest financially crippling the same group.
Forgetting the Data Protection Act for a moment and considering the detrimental effect this could have on the security of the majority of personnel, perhaps the Official Secrets Act should be invoked. I suspect, though, that most of this data is 'Staff in Confidence' whereas by virtue of the sheer volume of sensitive personal information it should be handled as Secret or Top Secret.
In short: not a happy bunny. Let's hope the thief panicked and threw the laptop in a canal. Unfortunately, no one will ever know how far this data has travelled until it comes back to bite us on the arse.
I'm sure 'lessons will be learned' as always. Unfortunately they should have been known all along and now the damage may well have been done. Muppets.
