When did you last see your data, and who do you trust to keep it safe?

This 8/6/2006 article by SA Mathieson in the Technology Guardian struck a chord with me as I've always felt that if I wanted to trust my personal data (an ePortfolio, say....) to a third party, I'd prefer to let the Co-op Bank handle it, than an institution, or the Government. The article has the following introduction:

We trust banks far more than the government to protect our personal data, so plans to share files across departments should ring alarm bells.

You might think your personal data is safe, secured under computerised lock and key, and fenced by the Data Protection Act with its sanctions against release of private data. Especially, surely, that which the government holds.

The reality is that everything has its price. Last month, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the state-funded watchdog for personal data, published a report, What Price Privacy?. The title's question was answered with a price list of public-sector data: £17.50 for the address of someone who is on the electoral register but has opted out of the freely available edited version; £150 to £200 for a vehicle record held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency; £500 for access to a criminal record. The private sector also leaks: £75 buys the address associated with a mobile phone number, and £750 will get the account details.

SA Mathieson's article in the Guardian.  Access page for the Information Commissioner's What Price Privacy? Report.