This afternoon there’s been a lot of speculation based on this pastebin post, which claims to be by LulzSec, and warns:

We have blissfully obtained records of every single citizen who gave their records to the security-illiterate UK government for the 2011 census

We’re keeping them under lock and key though… so don’t worry about your privacy (…until we finish re-formatting them for release)

Myself and the rest of my Lulz shipmates will then embark upon a trip to ThePirateBay with our beautiful records for your viewing pleasure!

It’s gathered a lot of attention, including a report on The Register, SC Magazine, V3, but with nothing to actually suggest it’s true.

LulzSec’s Twitter stream disclaims any knowledge:

I’m not seeing “we hacked the UK census” on our twitter feed or website… why does the media believe we hacked the UK census? #confusion

Not sure we claimed to hack the UK census or where that rumour started, but we assume it’s because people are stupider than you and I.

Just saw the pastebin of the UK census hack. That wasn’t us – don’t believe fake LulzSec releases unless we put out a tweet first.

Anyone in the world can copy and paste The Lulz Boat ASCII art and general lighthearted theme. Smarten up, check the feed first. #AntiSec

Looks like someone decided to make up a rumour, and it’s been circulated widely by the media.

Of course, I wouldn’t have actually been at all surprised if it did turn out to be true; this is the UK Government and Lockheed Martin we’re talking about, and LulzSec have shown their ability to hit some pretty big targets in the past…