Ministers and civil servants are able to wipe their mobile phones by repeatedly entering the wrong password, according to research that raises fears of future scandals.
Last year, MPs were critical of the policy that allowed departments to delete all data and texts from mobile phones.
Freedom of Information requests reveal that at least fourteen of the 21 central government agencies and departments still possess this policy.
According to new research, ministers and civil officials can erase their smartphones by entering the wrong password repeatedly.
It could be used to erase evidence that would show how decisions were made, according to critics.
The Commons Treasury committee last year recommended that the Government ‘review its policies’ to ‘prevent the deletion of Government records’ after information relating to the Greensill lobbying scandal was lost because a phone had been wiped.
In 2020, the Treasury deleted 117 mobile phones and the Cabinet Office erased 153.
None was wiped by the Department for Work and Pensions, while none of the other policy holders did.
It could be used to erase evidence that could show how the decisions were made, according to critics.
Jo Maugham QC, founder of the Good Law Project, said: ‘It’s entirely wrong for ministers and special advisers to be given de facto the option of deleting, when convenient, all records held on their phones.
‘Departments have been told this is wrong by the Treasury Select Committee – and you do have to wonder why so many persist.’
Last year was highlighted by the inability of Treasury permanent secretary Tom Scholar to share with MPs texts among himself and David Cameron.
Cameron bombarded ministers and officials with text messages and phone calls in an attempt to persuade them to let Greensill Capital participate in Government-backed emergencies lending programs.
But when Greensill collapsed, the former prime minister’s lobbying efforts were the subject of an investigation by the Treasury Select Committee.
When MPs asked to see copies of Mr Scholar’s text messages, they were told that his phone had been wiped.
He said: ‘At the beginning of June last year, (the phone) had to be reset because, under government security as applies to mobile phones, if the password is incorrectly entered more than a few times, the phone is locked, and the only way to unlock it is to reset it.
‘Resetting it means that the data on it is lost. I knew that when it happened last June, and I am certainly not the only person to whom that has happened.’
In its official report, the Treasury Select Committee said: ‘We are concerned that it appears that government records, held on the phone of the Treasury’s permanent secretary, are subject to deletion based on lapses of his memory.
‘We recommend that the Government reviews its policies and use of information technology to prevent the complete deletion of government records by the misremembering of a password to a phone, given that this may be a wider problem.
‘Though we have absolutely no reason to believe it in this case, the wiping of information under these kind of circumstances could have the unfortunate consequence of leading some to the suspect it to be deliberate.’