Terence Lim Eu Seng writes: While updating my particulars via the National Service portal upon receiving a call-up notification, I noticed that my “father’s” information was already filled in with a stranger’s name, Identity Card number and address. The surname did not even match mine. How could the Defence Ministry violate its privacy statement with…
Category: Breach Incidents
Personal data routinely leaked from Obama and Romney websites
Both the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns swear that their websites don’t collect personally identifiable information from visitors, but a new report reveals that neither candidate can really back that claim up. Responding to the New York Times for an article published just this week, representatives from both presidential contenders say no private information…
Illinois nursing home residents’ data stolen
Associated Press reports: The personal information of 508 Illinois nursing home residents was inside a stolen briefcase, prompting the state agency overseeing Medicaid to notify the people affected by the breach. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services announced the incident Friday. A statement from the department says the briefcase was stolen Aug. 31 from the…
Breach on Cornell Computer Exposes Personal Data for Five Days
Akane Otani reports: The personal information of up to 2,000 people was exposed to the public for five days on a computer in Cornell’s athletics department, a University administrator confirmed Thursday. Donald Sevey, director of information systems, said that the University discovered that a file server containing “confidential data” about thousands of people was accessible…
UK: Council guilty of data breach by posting identities online
A council has been accused of putting residents who report litter and graffiti at risk from the perpetrators after the authority breached data protection laws by posting online the identities of those providing the tip-offs. Data protection watchdogs at the Information Commissioner’s Office have deemed that York Council has broken guidelines after it emerged the authority’s online…
Facebook flaw bypasses password protections
Facebook has moved quickly to shut down a loophole which made some accounts accessible without a password. The bug was exposed in a message posted to the Hacker News website. The message contained a search string that, when used on Google, returned a list of links to 1.32 million Facebook accounts. In some cases…