A Scottish advocate breached the Data Protection Act after failing to encrypt a laptop containing sensitive personal data which was later stolen, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The laptop was stolen from the home of Ruth Crawford QC in 2009 when she was away on holiday. Ms. Crawford noted that she had left…
Author: Dissent
NYS suspends 16 workers who snooped in colleague’s file
Rick Karlin reports: Sixteen employees of the state Office of Children and Family Services have been suspended for allegedly snooping in confidential files relating to a co-worker. The victim of the alleged snooping, Kristen Trapalis, was arrested in May and charged with possession of marijuana and endangering the welfare of a child, but those charges were later dropped. Ironically,…
IL: Social Security numbers are disclosed on mailings to participants in Bright Directions college savings program
Monique Garcia report: The Social Security numbers of more than 36,000 people enrolled in a college savings program run by the Illinois treasurer’s office appeared on the outside of envelopes mailed to participants late last month. The potentially compromising information was printed near the space designated for the recipient’s name and address on quarterly newsletters…
NJ: Grieving mother wants law to protect privacy of accident victims
Nora Muchanic of WPVI reports that a distraught New Jersey mother is fighting for legislation that would spare others the anguish she experienced when a first responder uploaded crash photos of her daughter’s accident online before she even knew that her daughter had been in a fatal crash. Cathy Bates, 40, was killed in a…
PA: Names and Social Security numbers of Public School Employees’ Retirement System members exposed on Internet
Regina Medina reports: A recent security breach caused the names and Social Security numbers of about 2,000 members of the pension fund for Pennsylvania public school employees to be accessible to the public, state officials said Tuesday. The Public School Employees’ Retirement System sent a notification letter about the situation to about 2,000 of its…
Ca: ‘Insider’ government data breaches soaring
Emily Chung reports: The proportion of “insider” internet security breaches caused by employees are rising quickly within Canadian government departments and agencies, a new study shows. Insider breaches in the government sector grew by 28 per cent between 2010 and 2011 and are up 68 per cent since 2008, the fourth annual Telus-Rotman joint study…