High Profile Data Errors

The recent error in the UK government's test and trace system was a major example of what can happen when there's no quality assurance.

The recent error in the UK government's test and trace system was a major example of what can happen when there's no quality assurance in a reporting process.

In 2010, a formatting error in a spreadsheet at MI5 caused bugs to be placed on the phone lines of over 1,000 innocent members of the public.

Harvard professors published 'Growth in a time of Debt', where an error in the formula had led to misleading results about public borrowing and economic growth.

At the London Olympics in 2012, a typo led to 10,000 additional seats for synchronised swimming being added to the ticketing software.

These examples show the importance of checking for errors, whether in data entry, calculations or the data-collection process itself.