Public tolerance of government data leaks appears to be running out with the vast majority of people now believing those responsible should face criminal charges.
According to a survey conducted for encryption specialist Stonewood Group 89% of those asked said they would like to see government departments face legal action if they lose data negligently.
The findings come after a steady stream of data losses over the last 18 months with some memorable examples including the HMRC data discs loss hitting the headlines.
The high profile data leaks from the likes of the Prison Service, MoD and the NHS have been a boon to the security channel.
Grant Gutteridge, a director at Stonewood, said that not enough was being doen to protect data and the pressure was increasing to get more encryption deployed acrtoss government departments.
“The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) wants all organisations, especially those with large databases, to make sure that they are addressing all the risks of data handling," said Grant.
Stonewood is now setting up an online petition to put pressure on the government to do more to protect data.