Lisa Black and John Keilman report: When Elida Cruz worked in the banking industry, she assured clients that their personal information would remain confidential. So, imagine her horror when she learned that much of her own information, including her Social Security number, birth date, phone number and job history, had become astonishingly public, floating down…
Category: Exposure
Apology over confidential files in Bristol litter bin
A Bristol lawyer has apologised after rubbish he was seen throwing into a city centre litter bin turned out to be a colleague’s confidential case notes. A cafe worker saw Stephen Davies QC put the papers into a bin on 21 January close to the city’s legal centre. Mr Davies said he had been helping…
FL: Medical files in Port St. Lucie trash bin could have led to ID fraud, police say
Will Greenlee reports: Police on Tuesday turned up medical files containing information that could be used to commit identity theft in a trash bin near University Medical Clinics, a police spokesman said Wednesday. Police determined the files, which contained information including patient names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses, had been discarded from University…
Commerce Dept. slow to notify employees of security breach
Joe Davidson reports on a Commerce Dept. breach that involved the transmission of unencrypted PII: Why did it take the Commerce Department so long to notify employees that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, had been let loose on the Internet? On Monday, employees were informed by letters mailed to their homes about “a…
UK: Apology after magistrates’ details sent to prisoners
Jack Doyle reports: The personal details of hundreds of magistrates were placed in the hands of convicted criminals in a data loss blunder, it was revealed today. A directory containing names, telephone numbers and email addresses of magistrates and court legal advisors in Norfolk was sent for printing in a prison workshop manned by inmates….
MO: Envelope glitch gives peek at data
Janese Heavin reports: Rex Cone is always concerned about identity theft. So he was especially worried when he received a tax form from the University of Missouri last week that allowed his Social Security number to be displayed through the envelope’s window. “With all of the public service announcements saying to look out for your…