Canadian Govt loses personal data on 583,000 students

The Canadian Government lost personal data of 583,000 student loan recipients clients on a portable hard drive last month.

The drive went missing from a Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) office and contained information on students between 2000-2006.

Data on the drive included student names, social insurance numbers, birthdates, contact information and loan balances, along with personal information of 250 HRSDC employees.

The agency banned the use of portable hard drives and USB memory sticks, introduced new policy and credit protection for those affected.

"I have instructed that the new policy contain disciplinary measures that will be implemented for staff, up to and including termination, should the strict codes of privacy and security not be followed," Minister of human resources and skills development Diane Finley said.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com