Josh Halliday reports: The Metropolitan police has been called in after computer hackers gained access to a London university medical database, sending a string of expletive-laden emails to hundreds of its users. Unidentified hackers sent emails last week pretending that members of the university’s executive board were involved in a “recent child pornography sting” and…
Category: Non-U.S.
UK: Renewal applications lost by Passport Service
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) breached the Data Protection Act by losing the passport renewal applications of 21 individuals, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The loss occurred in May 2010 at the passport office that was responsible for processing the applications and the ICO was subsequently informed. The missing details included the…
UK: 100 police workers in breach of data protection
Coreena Ford reports: A police officer is suspected of using a force computer to pass classified information onto criminals, the Sunday Sun can reveal. The community support officer – who was sacked – is one of no less than 100 North officers and civilian staff to breach data protection laws for their own use over…
UK: Council sent benefit details to wrong recipients
The Isle of Anglesey County Council breached the Data Protection Act after sending benefit details to the wrong recipients, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The ICO was first made aware of the breach in November 2010 when the council reported that a contractor had mistakenly sent letters to the wrong individuals. The letters…
AU: Crackdown on telco privacy after Vodafone bungle
Ben Grubb reports: Vodafone’s recent breach of privacy laws has triggered a check on all other telcos by the communications regulator, which is concerned poor practices are more widespread. One telco source said that Vodafone’s recent privacy woes had attracted significant scrutiny from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and the industry was being…
No Evidence Of Online Records Breach By Vodafone Claims Privacy Commission
David Richards reports: The Australian Privacy Commissioner who recently initiated an investigation into claims that Vodafone billing and call records for up to four million customers were openly available online has concluded that Vodafone did not have adequate levels of security in place to protect personal information, however there was no breach as claimed by…