SIR - David Rhodes suggests people are making a mountain out of a molehill regarding the loss of three million learner drivers' details in the US (T&A, December 24).

Of course the details lost are not bank details and the like, but the point is that they could have been and I think people are right to be concerned.

I wonder how long it will be before data from the government ID database the National Identity Register is "mislaid" or lost.

I would also like to know, why our citizens' data is being sent abroad to a private contractor for processing. Surely UK data should be processed here by a government agency and not by a foreign contractor.

Jason Smith, UK Independence Party Bradford Chairman, Woodlands Avenue, Queensbury