Allie Coyne reports: The Coalition Government has refused to back a reinvigorated bill that would force companies to notify customers of a data breach, saying while it agrees with the concept in principle, the proposed legislation needs more work. In March this year Labor Senator Lisa Singh re-introduced the lapsed Privacy Alerts Bill, which failed to…
Month: June 2014
Insurer for Michael’s Stores sues to avoid having to defend Michael’s
And now Safety National Casualty Corp., insurers of Michael’s Stores, have sued to avoid having to cover Michael’s against class action lawsuits stemming from their breach. Story behind paywall at Law360.com.
Northern Ireland: Prison service signs undertaking after Maze records sold at auction
From the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), with emphasis added by me: The prison service in Northern Ireland has been warned by the UK data protection regulator after a filing cabinet containing Maze Prison records was unwittingly sold at auction. The incident occurred in 2004 when a cabinet that officials thought was empty was sold at…
Ca: Henry v Bell Mobility: Another Federal Court case shows PIPEDA damages are hardly worth pursuing absent evidence of actual harm
Canadian privacy lawyer David T.S. Fraser writes: The Federal Court, in the recently issued decision in Henry v Bell Mobility 2014 FC 555 (not yet on CanLII or the Court’s site) has awarded a very modest sum of damages to a customer of Bell Mobility whose phone account was accessed by an impostor. At the hearing…
Metropolitan Companies hacked; member personal information accessed
The Metropolitan Companies, Inc. which includes Metropolitan Interpreters and Translators, Metlang LLC, Metropolitan Hospitality, Inc.,CTI Metropolitan LLC, and Metropolitan Temporaries provides staffing resources for various organizations. They are in the process of notifying those who obtained work through them or who applied for work that a hacker appears to have accessed their systems and removed…
File containing asylum seekers’ data downloaded in China, Russia and Egypt
Paul Farrell and Oliver Laughland report: A file containing the personal details of almost 10,000 people in detention was accessed in 16 countries, including China, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan and Russia, raising further concerns that asylum seekers returned to their countries of origin or their families may be at risk of persecution. In February the immigration…