{
  "id": 17237543,
  "title": "British intelligence agency misplaced 'thousands' of storage devices, years later still can't say how many",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/british-intelligence-agency-misplaced-thousands-of-storage-devices-17237543",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-30T11:45:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/30/british-intelligence-agency-misplaced-thousands-of-storage-devices-years-later-still-cant-say-how-many/5306605"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Investigatory Powers Commissioner Lord Brian Leveson expressed concern over GCHQ's misplaced storage drives, which may contain sensitive IPA-related data. The agency has been aware of the issue for years but has not established a clear understanding of the scale, location, and recoverability of the lost drives. GCHQ reported that the missing drives could be a \"very significant number\" but is still unsure of the exact scale of the problem. The agency is working on implementing an automated asset-tracking system by the end of the year to locate as many of the lost devices as possible.",
  "summary": "Other agency errors included an unchecked software bug that led to Terrorism Act detentions",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}