I get it all the time in my line of work. You try to do things properly but people just don’t care.

Data like this should never be taken home!

Picture the scene: Someone transfers the database onto a USB in order to take it home, clean it up, delete duplicated names and blank columns while he watches Frontline and drinking a cup of cha. But before he leaves of the office, he nips into the jacks for a quick wee, leaving his laptop with USB still copying lying on his desk. In five seconds flat, a bloke walks into the office an takes three laptops and a mobile or two.

We’re not robots.

Joking aside, what the hell is a DB doing lurching around an office on a UBS stick. jesus christ. I hope the person who has it ransoms it for a holiday in Jamaica or a free question to Gillian Bowler. “Why are you still in your job?”

No amount of reassurance that the data wasn’t critical would impress me. Simon Coyle, Official Liquidator, will I hope have to justify why he should be regarded as a fit and competent person to have charge of any future liquidations – or any other valuable assets for that matter.

Is there a professional association of liquidators that will investigate this laxity? Luck ensured the theft was not more serious it seems.

I am still recovering from the shock of reading the letter.

Dear Customer,

As you may have read or heard, Budget Travel Limited has recently suffered trading and financial difficulties and has been put into liquidation. As a Budget customer, Budget holds certain of your personal information – specifically your name, address, email, contact phone number, age, gender and your travel preferences.

My name is Simon Coyle and I have been appointed liquidator for Budget Travel.

As liquidator, I have been approached by a number of parties who wish to purchase Budget’s business. In order to ensure that an eventual purchaser of the Budget business can continue to provide you with quality services as a Budget customer, the purchaser will need to access and use your personal information in the same way as Budget has done in the past. To ensure this continuity of service, I intend to disclose your personal information mentioned above to the eventual purchaser of Budget’s business.

If you object to your information being disclosed to the purchaser of Budget’s business, can you please let me know before 12 noon on January 4th by sending an email with the words “Opt-out” only to
(removed to prevent spamming)

This email might be sent by you from the email account which received this message.

This notice to you is not related to any statutory rights you have arising from Budget’s liquidation and please visit the website http://www.budgettravel.ie for more information in relation to your statutory rights.

Kind regards

Simon Coyle
Official Liquidator

This post was mentioned on Twitter by darraghdoyle: RT @suzybie: The entire email database of Budget Travel was for sale, put on a USB stick and was stolen http://bit.ly/d5aaqi...