Betty Adams of The Kennebec Journal reports: Almost 600 people receiving unemployment benefits last week got direct-deposit information — including Social Security numbers — belonging to another person. Dick Thompson, head of the state Office of Information Technology, said the misinformation was sent out May 27 while the office produced material for the Department of…
Category: Exposure
UK: Sensitive information sent to wrong address
Liam Sloan of Newbury Today reports: A [West Berkshire Council] blunder led to intimate details of vulnerable youngsters being posted to the wrong person. Worlds End resident Alayne Summers was shocked to receive a torn, wrongly-addressed envelope containing 100 pages of highly-sensitive information about troubled pupils applying for places at West Berkshire schools. The documents…
AU: Westpac ‘stuff-up’ puts confidential customer details online
Mark Hawthorne of The Brisbane Times reports: A security breach has allowed confidential Westpac shareholder information to be included in an official document published on the Australian Securities Exchange website. A document Westpac released to the ASX in March contains the security holder reference numbers (SRN) and holder identification numbers (HIN) of up to 20…
NZ: Police investigate alleged leak from DNA database
Police are investigating a claim an Environmental Science and Research worker has made an “inappropriate disclosure” from the national DNA profile databank. ESR said today a criminal investigation had started. “A staff member has been suspended pending the outcome of the police and internal investigations,” a spokeswoman said. The alleged security breach was the first…
Follow-up: No charges will be filed for improper disposal of medical records
The Catoosa County News provides a follow-up on a case I had reported here: The family member of the doctor whose sensitive medical records were found in a dumpster in Hixon, Tenn., two weeks ago will not be charged with any crime. According to Jerri Weary, public information officer with the Chattanooga Police Department: The…
OIS Commentary: Is this really necessary?
Capstone Dental Center, PC (dba Arnerident Dental Associates) recently notified (pdf) the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that an email address for one doctor was typed incorrectly. As a result, attachments containing unencrypted dental information and the Social Security number of one patient were sent to the email address of a dairy farmer located in…