Really fills you with confidence doesn't it?

What I'm really interested in is what are they doing to make sure that nobody can use the information on my family that has already been lost. Are they going to re-issue us all with new national insurance numbers and make banks change all our account details so that the information becomes worthless?

I've heard lots of rhetoric about the first priority being to protect the public, but nobody has told us what exactly this means and what is being done - I suspect because nothing is being done

Stuart, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

The chaos revealed by a recent photo of the inside of an HMRC office demonstrated that the quality of the average civil servant was abysmal.
It seems that the government has a policy of providing employment to the drop outs of our failed education system thereby disguising the true unemployment figures. One would doubt the ability of the people portrayed to be able to put a CD into an envelope nevermind address the envelope and ensure its safe delivery.
As usual with our present government- all fudge and spin and no performance.

Stephen Green, Correns, France

This Government would be better suited to the job of controlling the issue of plastic bags to customers in supermarkets. That would seem to be about their only "vision" in any event!

D. Felstead, Nottingham, A Once Great Nation

Were the CDs used for the two earlier data transfers securely destroyed or chucked in a bin ?

John J, Edinburgh, Scotland

Someone please tell me - why are the names of all the children of the UK (bar those of celebs, politicians - believe me on this!) on a govt data base? Is it so that they can be 'guilty till proved innocent' in later life?
How many parents have given their consent to all this without even realising what their children will have to live with?
Hitler tried a similar scheme. Thank God, he did not have computers. But Brown does.

P Granger, Kent, UK

if the government was a private sector company they would all be sacked - this level of incompetence would not be tolerated, but the government just covers it up spending millions of pounds on investigations that end up blaming no one.

It is time to get proper industry people in to positions where proper discisions are made on every aspect of our lives rather than the bungling un-qualified politicians who fight and squabble against each other in the House of Parliament. What a waste of time and our money.....

Adrian, Edinburgh,

Anyone questioned why the government is using TNT for post instead of the Royal Mail, the savings that are made surely end up as a cost to the taxpayer in redundancy payments or subsidies to keep Rural Post Offices open. Shouldn't all public bodies should use thec Royal Mail so its service can be returned to pre strike levels at least cost to the tax payer.

John Holmes, Glasgow, Scotland

Yesterday, TNT delivered to us a box containing nothing but packing paper inside it. We've no idea what was in it originally or who it was supposed to be for.

It's all rather worrying. Were the contents stolen out of the box in transit? Is this typical of courier firms? Are they employing lots of unchecked agency staff?

MarkS, Leeds,

Are there any more chapters to be added to this Farcebook saga?

Richard Harris, Carshalton,

This crazy UK Government and its Administrative Elite are all technophiles and techdumb at the same time.

New NHS database with all medical records of everyone in the UK will be open to some 300,000 health care workers plus police, local authorities etc....

This ContactPoint system - same open season - all you need is someone's password and another 300,000 folk have it available.

I now realise that the UK government's secret plan - they are going into competition with Facebook & MySpace - no need to post your personal stuff - The UK Government will do it all for you!

Charles McGrory, Glasgow , Scotland

So far all we have heard from the Treasury who are the overseers of HMRC is little of any consequence and from the NAO that they advised only the information they required be sent. What may be of immediate importance here is that the NAO fulfil their function and examine the current systems prevalent within HMRC. There are undoubtably major structural failures within these systems and they are being aggravated by a culture of cut and slash. The primary objectives have either not been laid down or are not being adhered to, either way someone up top is not doing their job properly. When are they going to be promoted and knighted and join the retired list?

Trevor Freeman, Brighton, UK

INCOMPETENCE,INCOMPETENCE ,INCOMPETENCE I wouln't trust this lot to run a raffle God help us if they force the I.D card through A SHAMBLES and this Government must be a laughing stock to every other country.

AMAC, St.Helens, England

This is getting interesting. Darling cannot possibly last as Chancellor and then comes the question of how competent is the Prime Minister who was chancellor for TEN YEARS if he cannot even pick someone to perform his previous job in a decent fashion, and when the PM himself perhaps bears more of the blame for the shambles than the hew guy who hasn't even been in the job for six months.

There's no way out for Brown - Brown is finished. Stick a fork in him. He's done.

Jim, Milwaukee, USA

Quite obviously HMRC don't care less about personal security. Hence everything this Government says about ID cards and all their database systems and their security is rubbish.

Anyone want to see theior medical records on line. There are 300,000 swipe cards for users to access it..

Odds on 10% will be lost in 6 months.

The Government talks security .. and does nothing.

Madasafish, stoke on trent,

What are the vetting procedures when they take on temporary staff as this one of the routes being taken to reduce 'costs'?Even long term staff are sometimes dismissed for abusing their position with respect to computor data confidentiality. Managers have to implement procedures and instructions from somewhere 'above' even where these are inappropriate. Feedback upwards is usually ignored and never asked for. The management culture is often to by-pass sensible and secure procedures as targets are forced upon them. The whole of the civil service in chaos and suvives by crisis management amongest cuts where experienced stafff are made redundant and pensioned off being replaced by temporary contracts (an excuse for eventual privatisation?). Strikes are inevitable as is the slow collapse. Don't blame the staff, they follow instructions, and nobody above them is interested and moral is droping rapidly. Can't think of anything positive of what Gordan Brown has initiated.

HMRC employee , Leicester, UK

This Labour government has to be one of the most incompetent, morally corrupt, devious and frankly untrustworthy to have ever held the reins in the UK. As every day passes, its Stalinist tendencies and cowardly, secretive attempts to drown us with social MArxism unravel further and further - as for this ridiculous child database having 330,000 approved users, the current Labour record of employing illegal immigrants in public service means statistically at least 3,000 of these will have no legal right to be in this country in the first place - they aren't just a disgrace, they go beyond that.They are on level pegging with a corrupt banana republic junta

Bryan, Totland Bay, UK

Why do they need this database? And, even if there is a valid reason and I can't think of one, why do 330, 000 people need to have access to it?

Nii Akushie, London, UK

"330,000 vetted users" Have you any idea how bad this will be? As someone who worked in this business, we found that people leave their passwords in plain sight; leave them in unlocked drawers, write them on the back of their desk pads; tell their secretaries ... the list of security breahes is almost endless. To add to it all, these passwords remain in effect for months, sometimes years! Add to that the various manufacturer's default passwords for the routers, servers, etc, that are never changed, and the only wonder is that this disaster has not yet happened. The only way is for this monstrous intrusion into our privacy to be stopped dead in its tracks NOW! Not only NO, HELL NO to ID cards or any other centralised government database system.

Adrian Ryan, Donegal, Ireland

Why does it take 6 discs to record a conversation with one person? Who paid the 'phone bill, it must have been one hell of a long conversation!

Graham Russell, Margate, UK

330,000 "vetted" users; how many will be peodiphiles?

Phil Barnes, preston, england

If as seems likely this kids database gets out in the wild what would it be worth to paedophiles and if one of the 330,000 is one and that looks likely how safe are the kids going to be?

mitch, Wolverhampton, England

The only absolute certainty about ContactPoint is that with 330,000 "vetted" (or otherwise) users there will be unauthorised access.

Charles, Charlottesville,

Only 330 000 people will be able to use the kids data base. I guess that means that it is safe. What a relief.

Christopher Holland, Canberra, Australia

I wouldn't trust this government (or it's immediate predecessor) to chew gum and walk at the same time, let alone to take proper care of important personal data. Would you (bearing in mind that your child-benefit records could now be in anyone's hands)?

Heaven help us if it persists with the folly of the identity card.

j griffiths, manchester, england

These really aren't the actions of a government in a developed country, are they?

Matthew Jones, Newcatle-under-Lyme, United Kingdom

I have been caught up in the HMRC fiasco, concerning Tax Credits.. and find it the most ignorant department ,to deal with. i have sent letters in May July.and august the last one being sent via Gordon Brown ..and i am still waiting for the responses to those letters. perhaps they do not want to answer as the proof,. that i need suddenly arrived some 108 days later.from my freedom of information request, that puts the HMRC , firmly in the wrong concerning my case.. perhaps by not answereing my letters the problem may dissapear..same as the laptops and 25 millions peoples details to boot....

Another of the HMRCs tax Credit casualties...

Robert Baker, Bristol,

Well.. What can be said, more incompetence comes to light everyday, within the treasury and HMRC itself.. the fiasco with Tax Credits. fraudsters getting away with millions of pounds..and then the poor being hit with huge bills due to the HMRCs incompetence..the HMRC must be the laughing stock of the world..even the chineese press have articles on the recent data loss..

Perhaps it is time for the instigatorts, of this shocking debarcle should be shown the door, as per any other company..

Robert Baker, Bristol,