When diplomacy fails, play hardball. A Swiss member of parliament alleged Saturday that top German public officials had secret bank accounts in Switzerland and threatened to out them if Germany bought stolen data on tax dodgers. ”If Germany buys stolen bank data, we’ll push for a legislative change that would have to disclose all Swiss…
Category: Non-U.S.
Call center employee attempts to extort German health insurer
Die Krankheitskarte web site reports: German health insurance company (or rather: sickness fund) “BKK Gesundheit” was eager to outsource its telephone hotline to a virtual call center. In their home offices, the untrained workers then could retrieve data they weren’t allowed to see, including medical diagnoses. They all had access to „an unneccessary huge amount…
UK: East Lancashire councils in data protection mix-up
Sam Chadderton reports: Two East Lancashire Councils have been accused of unlawfully processing personal details after a data protection mix-up. Hyndburn Borough Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council both failed to renew registrations with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) register of data controllers. Any organisation using personal information about the public must be registered. It…
Shell staff details leaked to campaign groups
Ed Crooks provides more background on a breach involving Shell employee contact information: The database, from Shell’s internal directory, gives names and telephone numbers for its workforce worldwide, including some home numbers used for business. The e-mail was ostensibly sent by disaffected staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database was…
Police arrest 3 Turks over debit card scam
Police have arrested three Turkish nationals who allegedly used fake debit cards to buy luxury goods in Bangkok. Ziya Ismet Gebologco, 54, Ozulmez Bekir, 37, and Falay Togan Ahmet, 34, were arrested yesterday with seven debit cards, a laptop computer and a digital camera at Seacon Square shopping mall on Srinakarin Road by Crime Suppression…
UK: Alzheimer’s Society improves data security after staff details are stolen
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is reminding charities that personal information must be handled securely after finding the Alzheimer’s Society in breach of the Data Protection Act. The Alzheimer’s Society reported three separate breaches involving personal information to the ICO during 2009. Several unencrypted laptops were stolen during a burglary at their office in Cardiff…