Tom Brewster reports: Organisations have considered using a “loophole” to avoid data breach fines – by asking the privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), to audit them when they already know personal data has been lost or stolen. The UK privacy watchdog has promised not to fine any company for breaches of the Data Protection Act if…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Lawmakers Release Information About How Data Brokers Handle Consumers’ Personal Information
From Rep. Ed Markey: A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), co-Chairmen of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, today released responses to letters sent to nine major data brokerage companies querying each about how it collects, assembles and sells consumer information to third parties. The companies –Acxiom,…
Published Data Empowers
Over on The New School of Information Security, Adam Shostack takes off from Jordan Robertson’s article on Experian’s too-frequent data breaches to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart: the value of transparency and detailed information. Do read his post.
UK: Public sector squanders £2m due to data leaks
Dan Worth reports: Public sector organisations including the police, NHS and councils have had to pay out £2m in fines as a result of poor data handling practices over the past 18 months. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) was given the ability to levy penalties of a maximum of £500,000 in April 2011 in an…
What will Congress do now that it knows about numerous breaches involving Experian? And what will the FTC do?
Jordan Robertson of Bloomberg News provides media attention to a problem I’ve noted previously on this blog – that Experian suffers a lot of data breaches* where a client’s login is compromised and misused by unauthorized individuals. His coverage will hopefully inform national conversations about transparency, consumer protection, and breach notification. First is the issue…
Experian Customers Unsafe as Hackers Steal Credit Report Data
Jordan Robertson reports: When hackers broke into computers at Abilene Telco Federal Credit Union last year, they gained access to sensitive financial information on people from far beyond the bank’s home in west-central Texas. The cyberthieves broke into an employee’s computer in September 2011 and stole the password for the bank’s online account with Experian Plc,…