The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Northern Ireland’s Department of Finance and Personnel in breach of the Data Protection Act after approximately 37,000 people’s personal details were stolen. Stephen Peover, the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Finance and Personnel, has signed a formal Undertaking to improve data security. The ICO, the UK’s privacy…
Category: Government Sector
VA: Laptop containing personal information about MWR customers stolen (update 1)
FMWRC Public Affairs posted the following on www.army.mil: A laptop computer containing names and personally identifiable information for slightly more than 42,000 Fort Belvoir Morale, Welfare and Recreation patrons was stolen from a Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command employee Nov. 28. The Family and MWR Command was made aware of the theft Dec….
UK: PCSO fined for data access breach
A police community support officer has been fined £2,000 for unlawfully accessing information on Metropolitan Police databases. Thomas Childs, 22, who has resigned from his post in Hackney, east London, admitted seven counts of breaching the Data Protection Act. At Westminster Magistrates’ Court he also admitted attempting to obtain information involving personal data. Read more…
Privacy concerns close Pierce County septic Web page after personal data found
Mike Archibold reports: The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has pulled a page from its Web site that allowed people to access county records on residential septic tanks. Department spokeswoman Joby Winans said Tuesday that the shutdown was prompted by the discovery of a homeowner’s credit card number on one of the 3 million documents posted…
Plugging The Government’s Biggest Data Leak
Andy Greenberg reports: When David Ferriero was named head of the federal government’s National Archive and Records Agency last month, he didn’t just become America’s most important librarian. He also took on one of the toughest tasks in government IT today: plugging the source of a continual stream of information leaks, including what may have…
UK: Previous cases of missing data
In the wake of another breach involving the Ministry of Defence (not listed on this site as it is not clear whether it involved personally identifiable information), the BBC has published a recap of other breaches.