David Pegg reports: Local councils have lost data relating to personal details of more than 160,000 people in the last five years, a Bureau investigation can reveal. More than 26,000 individuals have had their personal details lost in the first half of 2011 alone. The losses include personal details of more than 5,000 children. CVs,…
Author: Dissent
WikiLeaks breach exposes unredacted US cables; organization blames Guardian reporter
James Ball of The Guardian reports: A Twitter user has now published a link to the full, unredacted database of embassy cables. The user is believed to have found the information after acting on hints published in several media outlets and on the WikiLeaks Twitter feed, all of which cited a member of rival whistleblowing…
Beijing Court Finds 21 Defendants Guilty of Criminal Privacy Violations
On August 5, 2011, the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court announced its decision in what is reported to be the largest criminal case to date involving the misuse of personal information in Beijing, China. The Court based its ruling on Article 7 of the Seventh Amendment to the Criminal Law, which applies to three types…
MN: State workers allegedly access private data without permission
KARE reports: Like all drivers with a Minnesota license, Michelle knows the state has her personal information. She gave it when she got the license. But when Michelle received a letter last month from the Department of Human Services she was shocked to learn that a state worker accessed her personal and private information without…
Update: Yellowstone County investigation finds numerous hacking intrusions
In July, Yellowstone County, Montana announced a hack of their web site, which they later said may have exposed personal information. Now Clair Johnson reports: An investigation of intrusions into Yellowstone County’s computer servers showed numerous hacking attempts but no theft of personal information in the two attacks that were analyzed. A preliminary report by AtaData, a…
UK: Patient details stolen from reception desk at hospital
Adam Morris reports: The personal details of more than 100 patients were stolen from accident and emergency at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, it has emerged. The documents contained personal details of 106 patients, including names, addresses, GP contacts and dates of birth, and were understood to have been lifted from a reception desk. Some files…