BBC reports: The personal data of thousands of ambulance service staff has been accidentally published online, it has been revealed. The data breach by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) included publishing the age, sexuality and religion of almost 3,000 staff members. The information has been revealed by a BBC Radio Berkshire Freedom of Information request…
Category: Non-U.S.
UK: Wolverhampton Council must take better care of people’s information – ICO
From the ICO: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Wolverhampton City Council to provide adequate data protection training for its staff following a series of warnings dating back over two years. The enforcement action follows an investigation into a data breach at the council that occurred in January 2012. The breach was caused when…
ICO slaps Student Loans Company after multiple breaches
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has criticised the Student Loans Company Limited after a series of data breaches involving customers’ records. The business reported several incidents where information held about customers, including medical details and a psychological assessment, had been sent to the wrong people. An ICO investigation found that not enough checks were carried…
Avast takes community forum offline after data breach
Jeremy Kirk reports: Prague-based antivirus company Avast said Monday it took its community forum offline after a data breach, but payment information was not compromised. Usernames and nicknames, email addresses and encrypted passwords were obtained in an attack over the weekend, wrote Avast CEO Vince Steckler on a company blog. The attack affected less than 400,000 of…
UK: University of Nottingham mistakenly sends e-mail containing personal details of job applicants
Marcus Boocock reports: Confidential details of thousands of job applicants were mistakenly sent via e-mail by the University of Nottingham. An attachment sent to users of the university’s job site contained the names of 4,751 people who had applied for a job there. It also listed whether they had been successful. A spokesman for the…
South Korea Increases Data Breach Fines, Lowers Liability Threshold
James Lim reports: Recent data breach amendments (Bill No. 10479) to South Korea’s framework data protection law increase available fines; lower the liability threshold that regulators must show to levy fines; allow compensation of individual plaintiffs without a showing of damages; and require notification of affected individuals within 24 hours of discovering a breach, a Korea…