We can only hope it wasn't sent there for safe-keeping, given the way consumer information seems to disappear from British government agencies, but now that government admits data on 3 million people has been lost -- from Iowa, reports Reuters.

A private contractor reported in May that a hard drive disappeared from a "secure" facility in the United States. It contained identifying details on residents who took a driving-theory test, but did not contain bank account or credit card information.

Times Online notes a similar data loss occurred in the drivers-licensing bureau of Northern Ireland just weeks ago, compromising the identities of  7,600 motorists.

Still reeling from the loss of data on 25 million child-benefit recipients, members of Parliament have warmed to the idea of criminal penalties, including prison time, for those responsible for the most serious instances of data loss, according to the Times.

There a few interesting points in this ongoing saga, according to The Register and The Inquirer:

• The tax agency head who resigned in the furor over the child-data loss has been seen back working at the agency.
• Though the loss was blamed on a junior worker, according to the Times, the idea to put the database on disks came from senior management.
• And the letter of apology sent to the child-benefit recipients contained sensitive identifying information -- and thousands were sent to the wrong addresses.