Security News > 2020 > March > Brit housing association blabs 3,500 folks' sexual orientation, ethnicity in email blunder
A UK housing association blurted 3,500 people's sensitive personal data as part of a bungled "Please update your contact details" email exercise, The Register has been told.
Watford Community Housing sent the email on the night of 23 March to people it thought were its tenants.
The email included a spreadsheet with 3,544 rows that included people's names, addresses, dates of birth, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic origin and disability status.
Reg reader Alain Williams, who received the data at about 6pm that day, told us that while he wasn't a WCH tenant himself and was initially confused about why he was on the mailing list at all, he does volunteer with a local group supported by WCH. In emails seen by The Register, the trust realised its mistake and sent a second email out at 10pm on 23 March apologising and urging recipients to "Please delete the email".
A couple of years ago West Ham FC emailed every single one of its away season ticket holders in a CC-not-BCC snafu, while no less than the government's official inquiry into child sexual abuse was fined £200,000 after the ICO ruled that it had emailed 90 people with each other's details in error - revealing the identities of potential victims of child sexual abuse.