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: Exposure
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…
Sony removes data posted by hackers
Reuters reports: Sony said on Saturday it had removed from the Internet the names and partial addresses of 2,500 sweepstakes contestants that had been stolen by hackers and posted on a website, and said it did not know when it could restart its PlayStation video games network. The company, under fire since hackers accessed personal…
FL: Sensitive Patient Records Found in Winter Haven City Recycling Dump
Rick Rousos reports: Records containing more than 60 Social Security numbers and sensitive medical histories were found this week by a woman diving for coupons in a large recycling bin. The paper records found at the city recycling area near the Orange Dome in Winter Haven on Tuesday came from the office of Jeffry Barnes, a…
Shanghai: 6 held over theft of personal info
Six people have been detained in connection with stealing, selling and publishing online the personal details of 3,600 local residents, police said yesterday. Officers said that details – including names, addresses and phone numbers – of residents from 14 well-known residential complexes changed hands six times before finally being posted on Baidu Wenku, China’s biggest…