John Oates reports: ACS:Law has been fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office for failing to follow data protection law. The one-man law firm, which has since ceased trading, won infamy for using IP numbers to accuse people of illegal file-sharing. Victims received a letter offering to settle the claims rather than go to court. But…
Category: Breach Incidents
KS: Assurant reports breach in customer account information
Diane Stafford reports: Assurant Employee Benefits said Monday that 1,007 customers in the Kansas City area have been notified that their personal information inadvertently was made available to another business client administrator. The insurer said human error caused those customers’ names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and types of coverage to be available…
IL: 2002 records unintentionally released
I missed this breach involving Eastern Illinois University that was reported in the Daily Eastern News several weeks ago, but DataLossDB.org noticed it: Coarsely shredded documents displaying the names and Social Security numbers of Eastern employees in 2002 have been unintentionally released because of improper disposal. “EIU officials are still in the process of determining which years’ information…
IN: Computer with private Reid Hospital information taken in home burglary
A computer stolen from the home office of a Reid Hospital employee in early April may have contained files with personally identifiable information on approximately 20,000 Reid patients. Craig Kinyon, Reid president/CEO, said the computer was password protected and was one of numerous items stolen in the break-in, which indicates the information was not the…
Breach costly for researcher, UNC-CH
Eric Ferreri reports: A prominent cancer researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill spent at least $350,000 fighting for her job. It wasn’t enough. Bonnie Yankaskas, an epidemiologist in the medical school, retires at the end of 2011, as stipulated in a settlement that restores her rank and full salary. UNC-CH officials wanted to fire Yankaskas, whom they…
Huntington National Bank sues ex-workers for allegedly stealing sensitive customer data
Brandy Brubaker of Associated Press reports: A lawsuit filed by Huntington National Bank claims six former employees stole more than 2,000 customer records before they quit to go work for the competition. The bank filed the lawsuit in federal court against former vice president Sandra D. Kokoska, former assistant vice president Kimberly A. Barnum, and…