Radio New Zealand reports: Wellington City Council has admitted its parking contractor accidentally leaked personal details of tens of thousands of motorists to a member of the public who made an official information request. It says contractor Tenix Solutions sent the man information relating to 120,000 tickets, including names and addresses of vehicle owners and…
Category: Exposure
UK: Personal details of 1,600 illegal immigrants published on Home Office website for two weeks in data blunder
Matt Chorley reports: The personal details of 1,600 illegal immigrants have been published in online in a Home Office blunder. The names, dates of birth and immigration status of 1,598 immigrants involved with the family returns process were revealed on the government’s website. In a written statement to Parliament, immigration minister Mark Harper said measures…
Swedes uncover Disqus user security breach
David Landes reports: A group of Swedish journalists are sitting on a goldmine of 29 million online comments, with information about users’ identities, from news sites around the world thanks to a security flaw in debate moderation service Disqus. After outing several ‘online haters’ at home, which caused several resignations from the populist, far-right Sweden Democrat…
UK: Islington Town Hall data breach victims set to receive compensation payouts of up to £5k
Andrew Johnson reports: The [Islington] Town Hall has agreed to pay compensation totalling £43,000 to 14 residents whose personal details, including mental health problems and sexual orientation, were leaked in two disastrous data breaches last year. A full written apology will also be sent to the claimants, who have been awarded between £1,000 and £5,000…
Chinese hackers leak 20 million hotel guests’ data on WeChat
Patrick Boehler of the South China Morning Post reports: Hackers in China have leaked a database of an estimated 20 million hotel reservations on multiple websites and even WeChat, the wildly popular messaging service, reflecting failed government efforts to prevent massive leaks of personal data. Online security watchdog WooYun said in September that hackers had…
National American University students’ financial information exposed, but what laws protect them?
Joe O’Sullivan reports: When National American University moved from one Rapid City campus to a new location earlier this year, the school or a contractor appears to have improperly disposed of thousands of sensitive student financial records that included names, addresses, loan numbers and Social Security numbers, according to documents reviewed by the Rapid City…