Handing over personal details to various companies and organisations has become so commonplace hardly anyone bats an eyelid any more – but the resultant potential for massive fraud and theft were these details to fall into the wrong hands means we should have a serious think about what information people are expected to divulge.

If it really is necessary for business to store extremely detailed information on its customers, then there has to be an assurance that it will be stored securely and that someone will be accountable if defences are surmounted.