I suspect that DRM users are feeling justifiably smug as the British Government is dragged down by their now stunningly publicised failure to abide by the European Directive 95/46/EC spelling out responsibilities which were obviously not fulfilled, whilst the DRM users, of course, are not.

You only need to examine two extracts from emails (admissible in law as evidence) between government officials to see the facts of the matter.

Another message, dated 13 March from an NAO official, with all names blanked out, says: "I do not need the address, bank or parent details in this download - are these removable to make the file smaller?"

and

It says: "I must stress we must make use of data we hold and not over burden the business by asking them to run additional data scans/filters that may incur a cost to the department."

(Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7106987.stm)

It is entirely clear that the only concerns of the government officials concerned both as senders and as recipients were operational convenience and cost.  In all the exchanges that were published there was never once a mention that personal, sensitive data should not be sent unless there were some overriding and legally justifiable reason for it to be done.  To paraphrase the owner of the Windmill Theatre in London when threatened with closure merely because there was a war taking place, “They didn’t give a fiddler’s fuck” about personal data.

So yes, DRM users enjoy a massive confidence boost.  If it comes to an investigation by regulators, they can point to the shambles of the UK government, and then show how (for a very modest cost that the UK government no doubt now dearly wishes it had paid) they have exceeded all possible regulatory requirements, and have ensured that only authorized recipients of their information could ever make use of it.  It would have been impossible for anyone to steal DRM protected materials.

Problem is that it’s kind of difficult to claim glory by stopping people from stealing information.  But it’s a lot better that appearing on CNN or the BBC and finding your lack of competence is in the gunsights?