The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

Search this blog

Recent Posts

On Twitter

About this page and the author

The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.

For full contact information and a brief bio, please see David's profile.

Please note that I am only able to provide legal advice to clients. I am not able to provide free legal advice. Any unsolicited information sent to David Fraser cannot be considered to be solicitor-client privileged.

David Fraser's Facebook profile

Privacy Calendar

Archives

Links

Subscribe with Bloglines

RSS Atom Feed

RSS FEED for this site

Subscribe to this Blog as a Yahoo! Group/Mailing List
Powered by groups.yahoo.com

Subscribe with Bloglines
Add to Technorati Favorites!

Blogs I Follow

Small Print

The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to his employer or clients. Any postings on legal issues are provided as a public service, and do not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein or linked to. Nothing herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Incident: Data for 55,000 customers stolen from Bahamas hotel 

According to Computerworld, a high-clas island resort's databases have been hacked, leading to the exposure of personal information of 55,000 customers. The report says that the information compromised included "names, addresses, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and bank account numbers."

What possible reason would a hotel have for collecting Social Security Numbers from guests? And if it had a reason to collect this sort of info, why would it keep it?

Personal information is like an underground tank, half full of oil. If you don't need it, get rid of it. The more of them you have and the longer you have 'em, the higher the risk of disaster.

Here's the gist of the Computerworld article:

Data for 55,000 customers stolen from Bahamas hotel - Computerworld

Data for 55,000 customers stolen from Bahamas hotel The upscale Atlantis Resort has acknowledged an apparent database break-in

JANUARY 11, 2006 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Travelers who stayed at the upmarket Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas should keep a close eye on their bank statements in the months ahead. The hotel has acknowledged an apparent database break-in in which personal information for 55,000 guests may have been stolen, including credit card and bank account numbers.

The resort said it is notifying affected customers in writing so that they can "take steps to protect themselves from possible identity fraud."

Kerzner International Ltd., which operates the 2,000-room "ocean-themed" resort on Paradise Island, reported the theft last week in a U.S. regulatory filing. An internal investigation revealed that the information had been stolen from a database of Atlantis customers.

...

The information stolen includes names, addresses, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and bank account numbers. Approximately 55,000 customers may have been affected, the resort company said.

Technorati tags: :: :: ::

Labels:

1/11/2006 08:10:00 PM  :: (1 comments)  ::  Backlinks
Comments:
Sounds like the database comprises customers who had been granted credit by the casino at Atlantis.

It could not have been merely a database of guests, because they don't ask for your bank account number, SSN, or driver's licence number when you make a reservation or check in.
 
Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours? Creative Commons License
The Canadian Privacy Law Blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. lawyer blogs