Adam Jones reports: A glitch in a new online state program allowed people to retrieve personal identification data associated with vehicle registration without asking users to verify they had legal authorization to access the records. The online search tool was removed from the Alabama Motor Vehicle Division website last week after being on the Internet…
Category: Government Sector
BC Lotteries online site has fixed privacy glitches, report finds
Chad Skelton reports the follow-up on a breach previously covered on this blog: BC Lotteries did not take adequate steps to protect privacy when it launched its PlayNow.com online gambling site last summer, according to an investigation by B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham. However, Denham concludes BCLC has since taken steps to address…
OH: Envelopes Display Workers’ Social Security Numbers
A mass mailing has made some very private information public. More than 8,000 state child-care providers have had their social security numbers accidentally exposed, 10TV’s Glenn McEntyre reported on Monday. The providers received letters from Affiliated Computer Services, which is a subsidiary of Xerox. The company was hired by the state of Ohio to manage…
Former L.A. County social worker pleads guilty in identity theft
This is a follow-up to a case previously reported on this blog but adds more details about the number of victims and crime. A former employee with the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services pleaded guilty this past week to federal charges and admitted that he filed federal tax returns in the names of…
UK: Police officers and staff broke data laws 67 times in three years
Often, the only way we find out the scope of a problem is when the media or activists file a freedom of information request. Some data revealed thanks to a Freedom of Information request made by the Scunthorpe Telegraph: Humberside Police officers and staff breached data protection laws 67 times in the past three years,…
OR: Payroll data on 550 DOC employees found on thumb drive in Madras
Dennis Thompson Jr. reports: A thumb drive turned up in Madras containing confidential payroll information for nearly 550 Oregon Department of Corrections employees — a security breach that potentially affects as many as one in 10 DOC employees. A member of the public who came into possession of the flash drive notified the agency on…