Keeping It Real (Safe)

You probably noticed this story already:

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces angry questions from MPs after confidential records containing nearly half the population’s bank details went missing in the post.

The disappearance of some 25 million people’s personal data — virtually every family with children aged under 16, likely including Brown’s own — vanished in the biggest-ever loss of personal information by any government.

But never fear, Britons:

Two password-protected compact discs containing the names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account details of millions went missing after a junior official, who failed to post them recorded delivery, sent them to auditors.

That’s right–those discs are password-protected. And everybody knows that government encryption is well-nigh unbreakable. Just like government money is always well-spent and accounted for.