In the justice system: Federal prosecutors in Virginia have leveled conspiracy and bank-fraud charges against the alleged leader and nine members of a national organization of high-tech pickpockets called “Cannon to the Wiz” that’s been the scourge of police around the country since at least early 2007. Personal info on over 120 victims was found…
Category: Miscellaneous
Amicus Legal Ltd found in breach of the Data Protection Act
From the ICO press release: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Amicus Legal Ltd in breach of the Data Protection Act after reporting a laptop computer containing personal information relating to 100,000 customers was stolen. The laptop, privately owned by a contracted consultant, was not encrypted. According to the Undertaking: The laptop computer, which…
Stolen laptop contained AARP employee data
AARP, the nonprofit association oriented to people over age 50, sent a letter to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office on June 3, informing Attorney General Ayotte that they had recently learned that a laptop was stolen from an employee’s home. The laptop, which was stolen on May 22, contained the names, social security numbers,…
Did a privacy activist’s web site facilitate fraud?
Betty Ostergren of The Virginia Watchdog has been a passionate advocate for eliminating Social Security numbers from documents posted on the web by government agencies. To that end, she has occasionally posted examples of what she has found on publicly available web sites, a tactic that I have questioned while admiring her dedication and determination….
UK: Lost laptop exposes thousands of pension records
John Leyden of The Register reports on the latest data protection cockup: A lost laptop containing the personal data of 109,000 Pensions Trust’s members has sparked the latest in a growing list of information security breach alerts. The missing machine was stolen from the offices of NorthgateArinso, suppliers of the Pensions Trust’s computerised pensions administration…
Update: Laptop stolen from UFCW also contained Canadians’ data
Remember that laptop stolen from United Food and Commercial Workers International in March? Some new details are emerging. First, it turns out that Canadians’ details were also on the laptop. Bill Kaufmann of the Calgary Sun reports that a local union president said the laptop contained information on 28,000 Alberta members, including their social insurance…