A school has been accused of breaching data laws after it sent a 10-year-old boy home with a computer memory stick which contained sensitive information about his fellow pupils. Carlos McSweeney, who attends the key stage two support centre in Fairlawn Road, Montpelier – a school for children with behaviour problems – was given the…
Category: Exposure
MO: Personal Documents Discovered in Dumpster (updated)
Emily Baucum reports that bankers boxes full of unredacted personal and financial records from former clients of Nation Wide Credit Counseling were found in a public dumpster in Battlefield, Missouri. As if that is not troubling enough, Baucum reports that “The Battlefield Police Department is investigating the situation, but the boxes are still in the…
KS: Wichita Student Private Information Online
Deb Farris reports: Many Wichita parents are angry after learning their children’s names, ages, addresses and phone numbers are listed on an internet web site. […] We tracked it down to the Wichita school district. The website is used to make maps and give directions. A spokesperson for the district says in the fall the…
OR: State mistake puts personal data at risk
Alan Gustafson reports: Sloppy handling of confidential records by a state agency in Salem left people’s names, Social Security numbers, ages and addresses exposed in an open recycling bin outdoors. The blunder by the Housing and Community Services agency put low-income, elderly and disabled residents at risk of becoming targets of identity theft or other…
PA: Students’ social security numbers compromised
Kevin Cirilli reports: A Penn State professor’s grade book from 2001 to 2004 that contained 303 students’ social security numbers, among other personal information, was found to be compromised by a computer virus in the last couple of months. Penn State Security Operations and Services (SOS) discovered the incident and immediately took the personal information…
Email goof exposes Sea Ray Boats employee data
On October 21, an employee of Sea Ray Boats unintentionally sent an email to 698 dealership personnel that contained the names, contact information, and Social Security numbers of 341 of the 698 employees. The company realized its mistake, and within an hour, sent out another email asking recipients to destroy the first email. Despite the…