Neil Shaw reports:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed that hundreds of staff have accessed the records of taxpayers without permission or breached security in other ways. HMRC dismissed 50 members of staff last year for accessing or risking the exposure of taxpayers’ records, according to The Telegraph.
354 tax employees have been disciplined for data security breaches since 2022, of whom 186 have been fired – and some were dismissed for accessing confidential information. HMRC holds sensitive data including salary and earnings, which staff cannot access without a good reason.
The Telegraph says 96 staff were disciplined last year for data breaches and 50 were dismissed. The year before, 138 employees were disciplined, and 68 were dismissed. As well as accessing records, data breaches can include changing records without permission, losing documents and not properly disposing of equipment that contains sensitive data.
Read more at Yorkshire Live.