Friday in Westminster

Can we trust our banks - and can we trust bodies that hold personal details about us to keep them secure? Both questions relevant to current events in the light of the banking crisis and the latest loss of personal details, this time of 100,000 members of the armed forces. Both these subjects came up when the House of Lords debated a report from one of its committees into computer and internet security. The Science and Technology committee reported last year, but now they complain the government has given them the brush-off. Among the peers' recommendations was to establish the principle that banks are responsible in law for losses when card data is stolen. At the moment they are allowed to police themselves. Peers also proposed that the government appoints experts to consider all aspects of data handling and electronic... [read full story]