In the UK, the Treasury Solicitor’s Department has signed an undertaking with the Information Commissioenr’s Office. As described in the undertaking, there had been a number self-reported breaches involving exposure of individuals’ information due to incomplete redactions or failure to fully check: The Information Commissioner (the ‘Commissioner’) was contacted by the data controller on 6…
Category: Government Sector
Asylum seeker data breach: no decision yet on whether to inform those affected
Daniel Hurst reports: Australia’s top immigration bureaucrat has told a Senate committee he is yet to make a call on whether asylum seekers will be told that his department released their confidential personal details on its website. Martin Bowles, secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, characterised the data breach as “regrettable” but…
Oregon secretary of state website back online after hacker attack
KATU reports: Oregon’s secretary of state’s website was fully back in business Monday after “an unauthorized intrusion” earlier this month, according to the agency. […] When the intrusion was discovered Feb. 4, the agency shut down the state’s online business registry and campaign finance records. The state said the hackers didn’t get access to the…
UK: £500 fine for PCSO who accessed data
Ryan Jennings reports: A former Colchester PCSO has been fined for accessing the information of 148 people “out of personal curiosity” while working for Essex Police. Arrie Bygrave, 23, of Peppercorn Close, Colchester, admitted breaching the Data Protection Act by checking 1,684 records for his own purposes. Read more on Daily Gazette.
Ten months later, Memphis Police Dept. first notifies people of data breach?
Melissa Moon reports: A security breach at the Memphis Police Department may have compromised the personal information of thousands. It happened nearly a year ago, but those at risk are just finding out about it. Memphis Police say in April of 2013 someone hacked into a database system used to search for people, residences, and…
CalRecycle notifies employees after e-mail breach disclosed their Social Security numbers
California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), which is under the Department of Environmental Protection, is notifying employees of a recent breach involving Social Security numbers. The text of the letter to employees, which has been uploaded to the California Attorney General’s public breach list, explains: On January 23, 2014, the Human Resources Office…