Noel Towell reports: The federal government is caught up in a second data privacy scare, this time involving a massive data-set on more then 96,000 of its public servants amid fears their confidential information might not be secure. In the second potentially serious Commonwealth data breach to become public in less than a week, the…
Category: Exposure
Illegal pot dispensary customers fume over email privacy breach
Jacquie Miller reports: Who’s shopping at Ottawa’s largest local marijuana dispensary chain? That information has been widely shared after Magna Terra Health Services accidentally sent an email to nearly 500 “clients and friends” that listed all their email addresses. Some Magna Terra customers who want to keep their medical marijuana purchases private are upset. Magna…
SC: County auditor files legal complaint against county, treasurer over release of personal records
Erin Heffernan reports: A top Beaufort County elected official filed a legal complaint this week claiming the county and its treasurer compromised his family’s privacy by releasing personal information to a political adversary. Beaufort County Auditor Jim Beckert filed the complaint Sept. 29 in Beaufort County Common Pleas Court against both Beaufort County and County…
As we speak, teen social site is leaking millions of plaintext passwords
Dan Goodin reports: A social hangout website for teenage girls has sprung a leak that’s exposing plaintext passwords protecting as many as 5.5 million user accounts. As this post went live, all attempts to get the leak plugged had failed. Operators of i-Dressup didn’t respond to messages sent by Ars informing them that a hacker has already…
AU: Privacy watchdog called after Health Department data breach
Noel Towell and Rania Spooner report: Health Minister Sussan Ley has apologised to doctors over the accidental leaking of sensitive Medicare data. The federal privacy watchdog will assess Health Department claims that no patients’ medical information has been released after sensitive information on the Pharmaceutical Benefits and Medicare Benefits schemes was accidentally leaked by the department. […] The department…
Alberta College of Paramedics privacy breach put information of thousands of members at risk
CBC reports: A breach that happened with the Alberta College of Paramedics navigation portal may have put the personal information of thousands of first responders in the province at risk. ACP governs and regulates the province’s emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, and emergency medical technologists. The regulatory association said, in a release, there was a security breach and…