We must all learn from data debacle

Ill-informed parallels are as reductive as they are absurd

There is no doubt that the government should be ashamed of itself.

Regardless of the chancellor’s claim that procedures were not followed, the HMRC lost disks affair is inexcusable at every level. Unencrypted data? Wholesale downloading of databases? Uncontrolled access by junior staff? Each question is more staggering than the last.

But, however tempting, one department’s shambles must not be allowed to turn into a kneejerk reaction against technology.

There are clearly lessons to be learned.

Data handling practices in public and private organisations alike must be more transparent and subject to greater scrutiny.

And even the general public has responsibilities. As digital data sources mushroom, individuals will need to take more informed control of their personal information.

Better information sharing has major benefits ­cutting costs, speeding up glacial bureaucracy, avoiding duplication ­ and it is critical to the joined-up services that the government is so often criticised for not providing.

Interestingly, at the House of Commons Home Affairs committee hearing on the “surveillance society” last week, much of MPs’ censure was for too few joined-up systems, rather than too many.

There are dangers. And we must take them seriously. Though the extension of the Information Commissioner’s powers announced by the prime minister last week is to be welcomed, the changes do not go far enough. To focus minds proportionately, data protection violations should be made a criminal offence.

But ill-informed parallels between the HMRC affair and every other public sector IT scheme are unconstructive. And the unthinking assumption that government databases are an unalloyed danger is as reductive as it is absurd.

To echo Alistair Darling, the lost disks are indeed “an extremely serious failure”. But they should be used as a guide to the issues that need attention, rather than as an excuse to pretend that we either can, or want to, avoid progress.