Natural Resources Wales confirms data breach due to human error
Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh public body, accidentally published a spreadsheet on its website containing sensitive personal data about current and former employees. The exposed information reportedly included ethnicity, disability status, religion, sexual orientation, and caring responsibilities.
Why this matters: This is the category of breach that does real, lasting harm. Ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability status — this is not generic contact information. People do not get to take it back once it is out. Employees trusted a public employer with details that could affect their safety, their relationships, or how others treat them. Human error caused it, but that is not a defense. Public bodies that collect this kind of data have a higher duty to protect it, not a lower one.
Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators · General readers · Policy
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