5.4m of us apply for a passport every year and we relay on the Passport Office Service, a part of the Home Office to issue them.
They say their mission is safeguarding your identity but Watchdog has received complaints from viewers who say that the Passport Office Service have made basic errors meaning that their details have ended up with strangers.
Melinda Atkinson needed to renew her daughter Alexandra's passport ready for the family's summer holiday to France. She sent the old one off nice and early but the new one didn't arrive.
Delivered without signature
She contacted the Passport Service who put her in touch with the courier company who, in turn said they had delivered the passport. Melinda asked them to prove it and they supplied her with a grainy black and white photograph of a gate which had with no date or name of the house on it. For Melinda this wasn't sufficient.
"To me this is no indication of proof of delivery. It's not a signature, it's a photograph of a gate that may or may not be mine." Melinda explained.
Melinda has two large dogs and her letterbox is under lock and key. She's adamant she would have known if the passport had been delivered and now she's worried about where it is:
"As a parent I am really concerned. My daughter's identity is in the hands of an unknown, someone else could be using her passport" Melinda told us.
In the end Melinda had to travel to London and pay for a premium service to get her passport.
Received someone else's adoption certificate
Hayley Densley applied online for a copy of her birth certificate through the Passport Service. She received a letter through the post addressed to her, but she was shocked to find that she had been sent someone else's adoption papers:
"I was disgusted to think that I received this lady's stuff and I could have used it fraudulently if I hadn't been honest to contact the right agencies and sort it out." Hayley told us.
Watchdog tracked down the person the papers belonged to and Hayley thought the most reliable way to return them was by hand. Hayley had to drag her young children out in the rain and travel two hours to get them to their owner. She was grateful that had they had been returned safely but was shocked at how this had happened:
"I don't understand how this administrative error can happen. One would expect that things like this would be double checked before they are sent out", she told us.
Strangely enough it is the Home Office that says protecting the public and our identities is a priority. So why can't they can find a way to ensure that passports and other confidential documents don't end up in the wrong hands?
Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said:
"The Home Office takes the security of personal information very seriously. We always endeavour to maintain the very highest levels of accuracy in issuing any identity documents.
"Last year IPS processed around 5.4million passport applications, while the UK Border Agency deals with over 3 million applications each year. We take every precaution to ensure personal data is safe, including tracking all file movements and immediately investigating any case in which documents are delivered to the wrong address.
"Despite our best endeavours, the occasional error will slip through our security and quality assurance procedures. We apologise for this and for any inconvenience caused."
Have you had personal documents go missing or received someone else's in error? Comment on this item or send us your stories.
Home Office - sensitive document blunders
They say their mission is safeguarding your identity but Watchdog has received complaints from viewers who say that the Passport Office Service have made basic errors meaning that their details have ended up with strangers.
Melinda Atkinson needed to renew her daughter Alexandra's passport ready for the family's summer holiday to France. She sent the old one off nice and early but the new one didn't arrive.
Delivered without signature
She contacted the Passport Service who put her in touch with the courier company who, in turn said they had delivered the passport. Melinda asked them to prove it and they supplied her with a grainy black and white photograph of a gate which had with no date or name of the house on it. For Melinda this wasn't sufficient.
"To me this is no indication of proof of delivery. It's not a signature, it's a photograph of a gate that may or may not be mine." Melinda explained.
Melinda has two large dogs and her letterbox is under lock and key. She's adamant she would have known if the passport had been delivered and now she's worried about where it is:
"As a parent I am really concerned. My daughter's identity is in the hands of an unknown, someone else could be using her passport" Melinda told us.
In the end Melinda had to travel to London and pay for a premium service to get her passport.
Received someone else's adoption certificate
Hayley Densley applied online for a copy of her birth certificate through the Passport Service. She received a letter through the post addressed to her, but she was shocked to find that she had been sent someone else's adoption papers:
"I was disgusted to think that I received this lady's stuff and I could have used it fraudulently if I hadn't been honest to contact the right agencies and sort it out." Hayley told us.
Watchdog tracked down the person the papers belonged to and Hayley thought the most reliable way to return them was by hand. Hayley had to drag her young children out in the rain and travel two hours to get them to their owner. She was grateful that had they had been returned safely but was shocked at how this had happened:
"I don't understand how this administrative error can happen. One would expect that things like this would be double checked before they are sent out", she told us.
Strangely enough it is the Home Office that says protecting the public and our identities is a priority. So why can't they can find a way to ensure that passports and other confidential documents don't end up in the wrong hands?
Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said:
"The Home Office takes the security of personal information very seriously. We always endeavour to maintain the very highest levels of accuracy in issuing any identity documents.
"Last year IPS processed around 5.4million passport applications, while the UK Border Agency deals with over 3 million applications each year. We take every precaution to ensure personal data is safe, including tracking all file movements and immediately investigating any case in which documents are delivered to the wrong address.
"Despite our best endeavours, the occasional error will slip through our security and quality assurance procedures. We apologise for this and for any inconvenience caused."
Have you had personal documents go missing or received someone else's in error? Comment on this item or send us your stories.
Home Office - sensitive document blunders