University investigating data breach at law school

An investigation continues at the University of Windsor after a data breach earlier this month.

The school confirms personal information about law school applicants -- including names, e-mail addresses as well as GPA and LSat scores -- was mistakenly posted on what the students call their on-line blackboard.

A statement says the Dean at Windsor Law wrote to all current students of the law school, informing them of their professional obligations with respect to confidential information.

A preliminary investigation was then launched. It has been determined that the breach occurred on January 9, 2018 and that within 15 minutes the employee discovered the error and removed the file from the notice.

During the time, the school confirms the information was accessed by 36 current law students.

But Public Affairs Director John Coleman says it did not contain social insurance numbers or financial information.

“The Faculty of Law and the University of Windsor take our responsibilities to protect student and applicant data very seriously,” says Dean of Law Christopher Waters. “The Faculty of Law will review its policies around handling student and applicant data and provide additional training to support staff to help ensure that this kind of error does not occur in the future.”

The University says it has also confirmed that the 36 students who accessed the files have deleted and not copied or distributed the file.

The University says it has also informed JD applicants and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario about the breach.