A mortgage broker who discarded consumers’ personal financial records in a publicly- accessible dumpster paid a $35,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. According to an FTC complaint filed in December 2008, the defendant improperly disposed of about 40 boxes of sensitive consumer records collected by companies he had owned, including tax returns,…
Category: Exposure
Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients’ data
David Lazarus writes: West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open. She routinely tells banks and other financial-service providers that they can’t share her information with other…
UK: Social work records found in second-hand filing cabinet
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Lancashire County Council in breach of the Data Protection Act after social work records containing sensitive personal data relating to several individuals were found in a filing cabinet purchased second-hand by a member of the public. The records were duplicates of documents held in the council’s offices and…
OR: City staff’s private info sent out with water bills
Elissa Harrington and KVAL.com staff report: A list of the names and Social Security numbers of employees of the City of Oakridge was sent out with monthly water bills in this town of about 1,400 households. Don Hadley is one of the residents who got a little more than he bargained for with his most…
UK: ContactPoint database suffers ‘serious’ security breaches during trial phase
Andrew Hough and Martin Beckford report: The controversial database containing personal details of all 11 million children in England has suffered at least three security breaches even before its nationwide launch. At least 51,100 people have also demanded to have their personal information hidden from users of ContactPoint amid persistent fears that it is unsafe….
NC: Wake School System Released Private Checking, Routing Number
David N. Bass reports: Leaders of a conservative parent group in Wake County are upset that the school system’s public information office released a copy of a personal check from one of its founding members that included her account number. Kristen Stocking, who serves on the Wake Community Schools Alliance’s steering committee, criticized officials for…