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77,321 people were estimated to have been affected by 38 reported data breaches in Guernsey between July and September.
The third quarter stats, released by the Office of the Data Protection Authority, show an “unusually high” number of affected people, which the Authority says is down to a single breach via an email to the incorrect recipient which featured “significant” volumes of personal data.
Less than 600 people were implicated in the previous quarterly reported data breaches locally.
Another incident in the period saw a template document, populated with personal information, accidentally shared. That led the organisation to send out empty templates directly to clients to prevent repeat breaches.
These breaches represent a historical trend since more stringent data protection laws were enacted, with emails containing sensitive information being the top cause seen since 2018.
These instances, known as disclosure breaches, doubled compared to the previous three months of the year, with 22 incidents up from 11.
“As this has been a common theme, the ODPA takes this opportunity to remind organisations of the steps they can take to reduce risk,” it said.
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