Details of an Essex council’s entire workforce were released online in a “serious security breach”, it has said. Names, dates of birth, sickness information and work contact numbers for Basildon Council’s staff of “about 1,000” were published on the internet. A council worker spotted the breach on Monday and the details were removed by Tuesday,…
Category: Government Sector
UK: Memory stick with personal information about children goes missing
East Lothian Council has issued an unreserved apology after a security lapse in which an employee lost a memory stick which contained personal details of young children attending schools in the Dunbar area. The council has informed parents of primary school children in Dunbar and district that a copy of electronic records it holds containing…
UK: Met Police admits victims’ email address sharing error
Scotland Yard has admitted inadvertently sharing the email addresses of more than 1,000 victims of crime with other victims. In total 1,136 emails were sent out “in human error” on Monday, police said. No other personal details were revealed and police are contacting everyone affected to explain what happened and to apologise, Scotland Yard confirmed….
UK: £140,000 fine for Midlothian Council after sending child data to wrong people five times in as many months (updated)
A Scottish council has been fined £140,000 after repeatedly releasing sensitive information about vulnerable children and carers to the wrong people. Midlothian Council was guilty of five data protection breaches in as many months last year. It is the first local authority in Scotland to be fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is…
CA: SF city worker charged with data theft
Associated Press updates an insider incident previously covered on this blog: A former San Francisco city employee is facing charges that she stole Social Security and other confidential information from more than 3,000 people who applied for Medi-Cal benefits. Shawn Williams pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to four felony counts of withholding and concealing stolen…
Update: More than 4,000 vets potentially affected by VA data breach
Nicole Blake Johnson reports: A Veterans Affairs Department data breach may have put at risk the personal information of more than 4,000 veterans, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said Wednesday. That is nearly twice the number of potentially affected vets VA said last week were eligible for credit monitoring because of the breach. The…