Incident Details
During the past week, a total of 118 class action lawsuits have been initiated against data companies that allegedly did not comply with the requests from around 20,000 law enforcement individuals in New Jersey to delete their personal data from online platforms. New Jersey legislation prohibits the exposure of the home addresses and private contact numbers of present and former police officers, prosecutors, judges, and their families. In the event of such disclosures, the law mandates that the information be taken down within ten days of a removal demand. Not adhering to this rule could lead to a penalty of $1,000 per infringement.
Incident
How Did the Breach Happen?
New Jersey law enforcement personnel attempted to have their personal information removed from the internet, however, data brokers reportedly ignored their requests, resulting in the breach.
What Data has been Compromised?
Approximately 20,000 individuals in the New Jersey law enforcement community have had their personal information compromised, which includes the home addresses and unlisted phone numbers of both present and former police officers, prosecutors, and judges, as well as their relatives.
Why Did the company's Security Measures Fail?
The data brokers' security protocols faltered as they neglected to comply with requests from law enforcement to take down individuals' personal information from online platforms.
What Immediate Impact Did the Breach Have on the company?
118 class action lawsuits have been initiated against the data brokers following the breach. These lawsuits may incur financial losses of around $20 million per data broker and could lead to total industry fines amounting to at least $2.3 billion.
How could this have been prevented?
The breach might have been avoided if the data brokers had acted quickly on the takedown requests from New Jersey law enforcement and took down the individuals' personal data from the internet within the specified timeframe.
What have we learned from this data breach?
The recent incident of unauthorized data access underscores the urgency of implementing stricter laws governing data brokers and the significance of promptly addressing requests for removal of data. It underscores the necessity of comprehensive national privacy legislation and the prohibition of the exchange of individuals' residential addresses without legitimate and essential reasons.
Summary of Coverage
Data brokers faced 118 class action lawsuits for reportedly keeping the personal details of approximately 20,000 New Jersey police officers accessible online, which violates state laws. New Jersey strictly prohibits the exposure of such data, with potential penalties for non-compliance. This incident underscores the importance of enacting stricter laws and swiftly addressing removal requests.