The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) in breach of the Data Protection Act after an unencrypted laptop belonging to the former Chelsea Building Society (CBS), which had recently merged with YBS, was stolen from its Cheltenham premises. The laptop contained a substantial part of the CBS customer database. The laptop…
Category: Non-U.S.
Data breach fines will not stop the rot
Over in the U.K., John E. Dunn discusses some hefty fines that have been levied following data breaches, but comments: The public gets to hear about the punishment but a lot is left behind a curtain of secrecy. This is wrong and possibly dangerous. What the UK lacks is not punishments but a basic data…
AU: Hacker hits other councils across Ballarat region (update)
Benjamin Preiss reports that Ballarat Council was not the only council to have had their network compromised: Councils throughout western Victoria are counting the cost of a security breach to their online networks. The councils have undertaken security reviews and may conduct upgrades following illegal access to their systems. Yesterday it remained unclear how much…
UK: DSG Retail customer credit agreements found in skip
Electronics retailer DSG has been found in breach of the Data Protection Act by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), following the discovery of customers’ credit agreements in or near a skip at one of the company’s PC World stores. The discovery of eight completed credit agreements containing customers’ personal and financial data was made by…
Fine for Edinburgh data snooping policeman
A police officer who admitted snooping through the force computer and obtaining personal data about people has been fined £4,800. Pc Adrian Merron, 46, was due to stand trial on a total of 58 charges. But the Lothian and Borders officer admitted 10 charges and the Crown accepted not guilty pleas to the rest. Six…
Swiss Bank Data Studied by Baden-Wuerttemberg for $1 Billion in Unpaid Tax
Patrick Donahue reports: German authorities in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg are examining tax information offered by an informant detailing what may be illicit funds stashed in Swiss accounts, though they said they won’t buy stolen data. Finance Ministry officials in the southwestern region received an offer from an informant who claimed to have information on…