It fell off the back of a lorry
January 14, 2008 by Dennis Howlett
A box of files belonging to UK insurance group Prudential and including the banking details of 200 customers has been found on a motorway slip-road after it apparently fell out of a courier’s van, according to press reports.
The files, which related to investments worth millions of pounds, included cheques and other sensitive data. The files also reportedly included details belonging to three lottery winners.
According to reports, the documents were found by a vehicle recovery driver on a roundabout near Reading in Berkshire. It is thought the box was being taken by a DHL courier from a Prudential building in Reading to a secure storage unit in Essex.
Reports say the box of files was handed back to Prudential. A spokesman for the UK insurer told reporters that all 200 customers are being notified of the incident.
You have to ask yourself how the driver of the van didn’t notice that stuff had fallen from his vehicle. Or better still, how had the box magically jumped out of the vehicle? Or why are companies humping physical records around the countryside when they could be transmitted electronically?
As strange as it sounds, I can actually visualize this happening.
It would mean some really careless handling of the truck, but if a hatch wasn’t securely fastened and the door bounced up and down a bit, it could happen.
Still, rather weird, and transmitting files electronically is definitely a better idea. Too many people are tied down to the old way of doing things though, which inhibits smart improvements.
That, and paper’s cheaper than PDAs (until you pay for liability costs in a scenario like this, of course)…
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