Man loses USB flash drive with data on entire city's residents after night out
Man loses USB flash drive with data on entire city's residents after night out
Man loses USB flash drive with data on entire city's residents after night out
A view of Amagasaki City, Japan. (Source: Takuya Yoshino / AP via CNN)
Drinks after work probably seemed like a good idea -- but for one worker in Japan the hangover is likely to last for some time.
The unnamed worker lost a USB flash drive containing the personal details of every resident of the city of Amagasaki, northwest of Osaka, after going for drinks this week, according to a statement Thursday from the city's government.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that the worker, a man in his 40s, fell asleep on the street after drinking alcohol at a restaurant. When he woke up, his bag containing the flash drive was gone.
The man works for a company tasked with providing benefits to tax-exempt households, the city government's statement said.
On Tuesday, he went to the city administration's information centre and transferred residents' data onto a flash drive. The data included the names, birth dates, and addresses of 465,177 people, the statement said -- the city's entire population.
The flash drive also contained sensitive information including tax details, bank account names and numbers, and information on households receiving public assistance such as childcare payments.
On Wednesday, the employee searched for the flash drive but couldn't find it, so he filed a lost property report with the police, according to the government statement. Later that afternoon, the company notified city authorities about the loss.
The flash drive is encrypted, and no data leak has been confirmed yet, authorities said in the statement.
It added that, though the employee had been authorized to access the data, he had not been given permission to transfer it onto a separate electronic device. The statement also criticized the employee for failing to erase the data from the flash drive after completing his work at the city office, and for carrying it personally instead of using a more secure transportation method.
Authorities held a news conference on Thursday, with the city's mayor and other officials bowing in apology to residents.
The city will make payments to eligible households without delays, and will provide more information on the case as they investigate, said the official statement -- which ended with a pointed reminder for government employees to get permission before taking flash drives out of the city's offices.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says Health Canada is authorizing a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between five and 11 years old.
A 81-year-old Danish woman traveling from Africa to Canada was arrested at Warsaw airport on suspicion of illegal possession of heroin worth over US$515,000, officials in Poland said Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has nominated Ontario judge Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada. In a statement announcing the nomination, Trudeau said that O'Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation and is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian.
A prominent Quebec cardinal is denying sexual assault allegations against him contained in a class-action lawsuit that was formally filed this week in Quebec Superior Court.
Nunavut's acting minister of community and government services says the territory has declared a state of emergency in Iqaluit to ensure the city can begin replenishing its water reservoir without delay.
As students across Canada gear up to enter what will be their fourth academic year in the pandemic, CTVNews.ca takes a look at what measures will be in place in schools, by province and territory.
As of today, individuals and businesses are no longer able to import restricted handguns into Canada, with limited exceptions. The move announced earlier this month is aimed at expediting a key pillar of the federal effort to cap the number of handguns in the country.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra is set to testify before the House of Commons transport committee this afternoon about ongoing airport delays and flight cancellations.
A prominent Quebec cardinal is denying sexual assault allegations against him contained in a class-action lawsuit that was formally filed this week in Quebec Superior Court.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says Health Canada is authorizing a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between five and 11 years old.
Canadian flags hang alongside those of the French and British on the streets of Dieppe, France, each August as the city marks the anniversary of an important and disastrous day during the Second World War.
Nunavut's acting minister of community and government services says the territory has declared a state of emergency in Iqaluit to ensure the city can begin replenishing its water reservoir without delay.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Friday she had taken a drugs test following the publication of video footage this week that showed her partying with friends, and vowed she had never used illegal drugs.
A judge refused to grant bail Thursday to the man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie as the acclaimed author prepared to give a talk in western New York.
Ukraine's health care system struggled for years, but war has only made things worse. Care is being provided in the hardest-hit areas by doctors who have refused to evacuate or have rushed in as volunteers, putting themselves at great risk.
A 81-year-old Danish woman traveling from Africa to Canada was arrested at Warsaw airport on suspicion of illegal possession of heroin worth over US$515,000, officials in Poland said Friday.
A Michigan judge on Friday blocked county prosecutors from enforcing the state's 1931 ban on abortion for the foreseeable future after two days of witness testimony from abortion experts, providers and the state's chief medical officer.
The Justice Department under Attorney General William Barr improperly withheld portions of an internal memorandum Barr cited in publicly announcing that then-President Donald Trump had not committed obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation, a federal appeals panel said Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hinting that an energy pact planned between Canada and Germany will focus more on Canada's aim to be a long-term clean energy supplier to the world.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has nominated Ontario judge Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada. In a statement announcing the nomination, Trudeau said that O'Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation and is a fluently bilingual Franco-Ontarian.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will ensure that members of Parliament consider all the possible consequences of a trade trip to Taiwan.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says Health Canada is authorizing a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between five and 11 years old.
The next phase of Ontario's 'Plan to Stay Open' involves transferring of seniors from hospital to alternative long-term care homes, the hiring of thousands of health-care workers and a pledge to reduce surgical backlog.
Amazon appears to be getting the TikTok bug, joining other companies seeking to hold consumers' attention by introducing replicas of the popular social platform.
R. Kelly's legal team will get its chance to question the government's star witness on Friday after she testified at his federal trial in Chicago that the R&B singer sexually abused her hundreds of times before she turned 18.
A Chinese-born Canadian tycoon who disappeared from Hong Kong in 2017 was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for a multibillion-dollar string of financial offenses and his company was fined US$8.1 billion, a court announced.
Canadian retail sales increased 1.1 per cent to $63.1 billion in June, boosted by higher sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Lab-grown diamonds have become so popular with consumers that some couples are asking jewelers to swap the natural diamond in their rings for a lab-created sparkler.
A Toronto-based disability advocate is using the power of TikTok to raise awareness over the lack of wheelchair accessibility at many restaurants and bars.
Two years after a secret bike park deep in an Ontario forest was discovered and later demolished, new dirt jumps are opening just a stone's throw away.
Felix Auger-Aliassime earned a berth into the quarterfinals Thursday with a comeback win over Jannik Sinner at the Western & Southern Open Masters-level tennis tournament.
Vanessa Bryant, widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, took the witness stand Friday in her federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County over photos taken and shared by first responders of the scene of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, their teenage daughter and seven others.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will serve an 11-game unpaid suspension, pay a US$5 million fine and undergo professional evaluation and treatment as part of a settlement with the NFL following accusations of sexual misconduct by two dozen women.
She may only have her learner’s licence, but that hasn’t held a 16-year-old Comox Valley, B.C., teen back from working towards her goal of being a professional driver. Nicole Haverda got the green light on her desire to be a professional race car driver four years ago when her father took her to a Formula One race in Europe.
A view of Amagasaki City, Japan. (Source: Takuya Yoshino / AP via CNN)
