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The BBC claims the missing disk contains up to 1.5 million pieces of information, including personal data on current personnel and 600,000 potential recruits. The details include passport numbers, addresses, dates of birth, driving licence details and even bank account records. The BBC claims the drive was not encrypted.

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spokesman for the Ministry of Defence told PC Pro that he couldn't confirm the contents of the disk.

The missing disk came to light following an audit of all Government departments in the wake of the infamous HMRC disc fiasco.

The disk was reported missing by EDS, the MoD's IT contractor. "EDS reported to us on Wednesday that a hard disk was unaccounted for," the MoD spokesman said. "It's not lost - there's a subtle difference. It could be at the back of someone's filing cabinet."

MoD police and EDS are attempting to track down the missing drive.

It's not the first time the MoD has been the subject of an embarrassing data leak this year. In July, it admitted that more than 650 laptops and 26 USB memory sticks containing classified information had gone missing.