'Reckless' ministers lose 3,200 laptops and mobile phones from Whitehall

More than 3,200 laptops and mobile phones containing sensitive information have been lost or stolen from Government departments, it was revealed on Monday.

An astonishing 468 devices a year  -  more than one every day  -  have vanished since 2001.

The revelation cast grave doubts on Labour's claims that it can be trusted with confidential data as it seeks to introduce ID cards.

Critics said it proves ministers behave 'recklessly' with the public's personal details, and called for a massive shake-up in the way electronic data is protected.

Experts warned that terrorists plotting a catastrophic attack, as well as fraudsters and blackmailers, could wreak havoc by using details stored on the computers to steal identities.

The statistics were released in a series of written Parliamentary answers to MPs increasingly worried about the handling of data by Whitehall officials following a series of high-profile bungles.

Only last week, a computer memory stick containing the personal details of 127,000 prisoners and high-risk offenders, including rapists and murderers, was lost by an

employee of a private contractor working for the Home Office. Last November, two computer discs holding information  -  including bank details and National Insurance numbers  -  of 25million child benefit claimants got lost in the post.

The new figures reveal that at least 3,278 items have vanished from Government departments, including 2,168 laptops, 947 mobile phones and 163 'personal digital assistant' (PDA) palmtop computers, such as Black-Berrys.

The worst offender was the Ministry of Defence  -  which lost 994 laptops, eight mobile phones and 12 PDAs. Defence chiefs refused to say what was on the devices, but confirmed that some of the information was classified as 'secret' or 'restricted'.

The Department for Work and Pensions, responsible for overseeing benefits, had 271 laptops, 128 mobile phones and 20 PDAs vanish. 

The other main culprits included the Ministry of Justice, from which 169 laptops, 172 mobile phones and one PDA disappeared, and the Department of Health, which reported that 315 devices had gone missing.

Big losses: The Department for Work and Pensions had 271 laptops, 128 mobile phones and 20 PDAs vanish

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather, who uncovered the statistics, said: 'The Labour government has a disgraceful history of recklessness with personal data, showing a complete disrespect for our privacy. 

'Many Whitehall departments hold huge amounts of sensitive information on individuals, and they have a responsibility to keep it safe. If these missing laptops contained private or personal details, then the Government urgently needs to own up.

'Year after year, the taxpayer is footing the bill for this Government's shocking carelessness.

'It is time we had a complete rethink on the way electronic data is protected.

Stolen: The Ministry of Defence has lost 994 laptops alone

'How can they expect us to trust them to keep our personal information safe in their unnecessary and expensive ID card scheme?'

Simon Davies, director of the human rights group Privacy International, said criminals would need only three pieces of information about a person to launch a 'massive attack' on their identity.

He added: 'This demonstrates the woeful state of Government security.

'The implications of these laptops and mobile phones going missing is absolutely enormous.

'Ministers are playing Russian roulette with people's lives because they are refusing to take measures to improve the safety of information kept by Whitehall departments.

'If a criminal gets hold of some of this information, the sky is the limit for them.

'They will steal identities and destroy lives. We are overdue a cataclysmic criminal attack on identity and ministers are not heeding the warnings.'

Following the recent data scandals, Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell launched a sweeping review of procedures within departments and agencies for the storage and the use of data.

In January, he issued a blanket ban on Whitehall staff taking unencrypted laptops containing personal details from their offices.