Cryptography being used, but badly

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<URL:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8066609.stm>

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Mick Gorrill, the assistant information commissioner, told the  
Independent newspaper that the "inexcusable" data losses within the  
NHS had become a cause of "great concern".

The paper reported that between January and April this year there were  
140 reported security breaches within the NHS - more than from central  
government and local authorities combined.

These included medical details of more than 6,000 prisoners in Preston  
Prison in Lancashire that were contained on a lost memory stick. The  
data was encrypted but a note attached to the stick gave the password.
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Is writing a password on a note and attaching it to a stick containing  
encrypted medical information a crime?