Thaindian News

London, Dec 29 (ANI): In what is being considered as an embarrassing series of incidents for the British Government, nearly 3,000 Government computers have been nicked or reported lost since 2002, along with other electronic equipments.

This means that the government has lost a laptop every single day over the course of seven years

According to a report in The Sun, the huge haul includes 1,774 laptops, plus a further 1,035 large desktop computers.

The figures also reveal that 676 mobile phones have been lost or stolen over the past seven years, with 202 hard drives and 195 memory sticks also reported missing.

Alarmingly, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has the worst record, despite handling some of the most sensitive Government information, with around three MoD computers a week reported as lost or stolen.

Figures indicate that a staggering 866 laptops have been pinched and 178 lost since 2002, and 157 MoD desktop computers have been stolen and seven lost.

The Department for Work and Pensions, which holds data on millions of bank accounts and pensions, is another major offender.

It has had 828 desktop computers lost or stolen, along with 271 laptops.

According to Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Paul Holmes, who uncovered the figures, Everyone understands things go astray, but its truly staggering that over seven years, a laptop has been lost every working day.

It demonstrates a culture of carelessness that ministers have done nothing to curtail, he told The Sun.

Ministers have also been hit by a series of data loss scandals in the past two years. HM Revenue and Customs lost two child benefit computer discs containing personal details on 25 million people.

Holmes said that the latest figures were further evidence that the Government cant be trusted with our personal information. (ANI)