Does anyone else worry about identity fraud?

I have been meaning to write a post updating you all on my new job (it is going so well by the way) but right now I am so vexed about this that I need to get it out before normal posting can resume! Sorry...

You know how people are always going on and on about how important it is to be safe when using the internet - don't share your pin number, account details, personal address etc online because it's SO easy for someone to piece it all together - well I heeded that advice. Truly - I may not be the most safety conscious blogger of us all - I am more than happy to share my real name, the city I live in and what I do for a living - but I NEVER share my postal address and when I use internet banking I always check for the secure website sign and use PayPal as much as I can for online payments to avoid entering my details to yet another third party.

But it seems that what I should really have been concerned about all this time is not the internet but the services in my own country! This makes me so incredibly angry I cannot tell you - I mean why bother shredding all your bank statements and watching what you do and say when nobody else bothers to look after your personal details (and items!!) properly.

Let me explain...

Yesterday morning I awoke to the sound of our answering machine taking a message. I got up to listen, thinking it was my Grandma ringing to arrange a time for afternoon tea and cakes, only to find it was some stranger asking for me. This lady explained that she had received a soaking wet and half-opened envelope addressed to me which she could clearly see had my passport in. So she opened it up to find out whose it was and where to send it to. I am just so thankful that an honest lady received it and not someone who might have used my details.

Let me explain further - I recently sent off for my provisional driver's license (£50 by the way!!) and the DVLA asked me for a passport photo and my passport (even though I applied online and entered my passport number). I duly sent them in a special delivery envelope (to ensure safety) but stupidly forgot to send return postage for special delivery. I worried about it getting back to me safely - but never did I imagine that the DVLA would send it to someone living the other side of the country to me. This lady said she doesn't even know how they got her address as nobody from her home has even applied for a license. Nevermind the fact that there was a form inside the package with my actual postal address and phone number on - hence her ability to call me and verify my correct address.

Now is it just me, or is this just plain stupid?! How could they send my passport to the wrong person when my address was clearly marked? Was it not the DVLA who last year lost the personal details of hundreds of people?? Can you tell why I am irate yet? But even more annoying is the fact that the form I sent with my passport clearly stated that if I were sending my passport as proof of identity then the photo I sent didn't need to be signed by someone to prove it was me. The only reason they sent my passport and form back this time was to say that I hadn't signed the photo - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! But it doesn't end there...

Last month I was due to receive my new debit card. My bank still have my parents' address on records and I can't be bothered to change it so they sent it there. My mum duly put it in the post (in a blank envelope so no-one would know it was from the bank) but it never arrived. Realising I had but 2 days left on my old card I rang the bank and had to ask them to cancel my card (leaving me with no access to my own account) and reissue me with a new card. So in less than a month the royal mail have managed to lose my bank card AND deliver an envelope that was so wet it had opened up and the recipient could clearly see there was a passport inside it. This is also not the first time this has happened - earlier this year I sold a book on ebay and wrapped it up in tissue paper then in a brown envelope and had to refund the money because it arrived so wet the tissue paper had discoloured the book itself!

But wait - there's even more!!

In May this year T was made redundant and applied for benefits. We were told what we were eligible to received based on my income but I had to send off my previous two wage slips. We duly sent them to the Job Centre only to have my wage slips arrive at my Aunty's house with a note saying that they had no record of me making a claim so had returned them to me. This means that a) they had separated my wage slips from T's claim otherwise they would have known I hadn't personally made a claim but it was connected to his and b) they looked up an address they had on record from when I made a claim whilst trying to find my first job over 2 years ago! They never once bothered to check that I still lived at that address - as it is I am lucky my Aunty still lives there otherwise anyone could have got hold of the information on my wage slips. Seriously, how long does it take to make a couple of phone calls to check an address?

So, you see, I am most unsettled about the lack of thought put into our services - how can I possibly look after my personal data and ensure nobody steals it when our country's services cannot be bothered to take more care of it all? I shall be writing some strongly worded letters over the next few days and may even take my sister's advice and write to the papers (or maybe watchdog or something) - seriously - this is not on!