Drinks after work may have been a bad idea for one worker in Japan who lost a USB flash drive containing the personal details of every resident of the city of Amagasaki, Japan, which lies northwest of Osaka, the city's government announced Thursday.
The unnamed man in his 40s, who works for a company that provides benefits to tax-exempt households, went to the city's administration's information center and transferred the resident's data onto a flash drive, according to CNN. The data included names, birth dates, and addresses as well as tax details, bank account names and numbers of 465,177 people, which is the city's entire population.
The employee then went for drinks at a restaurant and at some point in the evening fell asleep on the street. When he woke up on Wednesday, he discovered his bag containing the flash drive was missing. The worker filed a lost property report with the police and the company also later notified city authorities about the loss.
In a statement cited by CNN, authorities noted that the flash drive is encrypted and no data leak has yet been confirmed. The statement further noted that the employee had been authorized to access the data but was not granted permission to transfer it onto a separate electronic device. He was criticized for failing to erase the data from the flash drive before leaving the office and for not using a more secure transportation mode but instead carrying it with him personally.
The city assured residents it would make payments to eligible households without delays. It also vowed to provide updates on the case as the investigation continues.
"We deeply regret that we have profoundly harmed the public's trust in the administration of the city," an Amagasaki official said, according to the Guardian.
The city said in a statement that it would "ensure security management when handling electronic data. We will work to regain our residents' trust by heightening awareness of the importance of protecting personal information."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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