Lucy Battersby reports that an email gaffe by auto insurer Australian Associated Motor Insurers (AAMI) has enabled disgruntled consumers to find each other to band together: The blind carbon copy (BCC) button on emails exists for a very good reason. Unfortunately one of AAMI’s managers failed to use it the day she sent a message…
Category: Exposure
ADP coding error exposed McKesson employees’ SSN and wages (updated to include statement from ADP)
Add McKesson to those affected by a breach involving ADP that was disclosed in June. The breach also affected employees of the city of Houston and US Airways, as reported previously on this blog. On August 9, McKesson notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that it was sending out notifications to some of their employees…
UK: Council’s data blunder branded ‘sloppy’ by FoI expert
Another case where a FOI (freedom of information) response exposed too much: A data blunder which saw the council release sensitive staff information has been branded ‘sloppy and embarrassing’ by the recipient. Roger Gill originally submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Horsham District Council after receiving no response to a complaint about Acorn…
Auburn University error exposes donor and alumni information on public server
On June 19, Auburn University in Alabama learned that spreadsheets containing donor and alumni information had been accidentally uploaded to a public server. The spreadsheets contained an undisclosed number of donor and alumni’s names, maiden names, postal and email addresses, telephone numbers, and Social Security numbers. The spreadsheets also contained former students’ years of attendance,…
Flaw in E-mailing System Exposes Millions of Mexicans’ E-mails
Bogdan Botezatu reports: A massive numbers of Prodigy subscribers in Mexico have had their email conversations exposed overnight because of a security flaw in the company’s mobile e-mail and web-based mail systems. According to a news report by El Economista, the flaw allowed search engines to simply index private conversations and list them on the…
UK: ICO Looking Into Daily Mail Privacy Fail
Tom Brewster reports: The Daily Mail has leaked user data thanks to a technical glitch that appeared to sign its online readers in as the wrong person. The popular right-leaning paper will now face inquiries from the UK’s privacy watchdog. On Tuesday, users complained that when they logged in to the Mail Online, they were recognised as a…