DVLA’s 2,000 data breaches

THE DVLA mishandled the confidential details of more than 2,000 drivers in less than a year.

The agency mislaid key documents such as driving licences, passports and marriage certificates – or sent them to the wrong addresses.

Freedom of information requests found that the DVLA reported 439 data breaches over ten months last year, affecting 2,018 drivers.

The Passport Office had five breaches and HM Revenue & Customs ten, according to the BBC investigation. The DVLA said the breaches were the result of human error at its Swansea HQ.

A spokesman pointed out the mistakes were relatively few in number because the agency sent out more than 93million items a year, including 10.6million driving licences. He added: ‘We have apologised to those concerned.’

The full investigation can be seen on Watchdog Live tonight at 8pm on BBC One.