This is the latest in a series of personal information losses, the greatest of which occurred in November when Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office has lost the personal information of 25 million people.
The disk contained the names of driving test applicants, postal addresses, telephone numbers, fees paid to take the driving test including a code indicating how the fees were paid, where the test was taken a and an e-mail addresses if provided. The disk did not contain details of any individual's bank account or credit card, driving license number or U.K. National Insurance Number. It did not contain their date of birth, copies of signatures, or driving test results.
Pearson informed the DSA that the hard disk drive was formatted "specifically to fit Pearson configuration and as such is not readily usable and/or accessible for third parties." Pearson has also confirmed that there is no external indication of the drives contents.
"We regret the loss and apologize unreservedly to customers for the uncertainty and concern they may have," the Driving Standards Agency said in a release.
According to the Driving Standards Agency, the U.K. Information Commissioner Richard Thomas advised the DSA on December 14 that he is concerned about any security breach -- especially where large numbers of individuals are concerned. However, he recognizes that the risks are lower where the personal data does not include banking or credit card details and where security safeguards were in place to protect the data from third party access. He has also indicated that this case does not appear to present a substantial risk to large numbers of individuals.
