We know data leak happens more than it should, but in a prison? I know this question might sound weird, but this is what happened in a prison in Florida. Everglades Correctional Institution (ECI) is where the controversy took place. Recently, families of prisoners suffered a data leak while visiting them, which caused a feeling of worry and fear among family members. I mean, who wouldn’t?
How did it happen? That’s what we are going to explain in detail. So, let’s get started.
Data leak… in a prison?
On July 24, a staff member of the ECI sent a massive email to all the prisoners by mistake. The problem is that the message included information about the people visiting the incarcerated individuals… So, you can imagine that up to hundreds of prisoners got access to every visitor’s information.
What type of information was leaked?
Of course, there is more sensitive information than other, but every type of data is private and it shouldn’t be available for anyone unless we give permission. In this case, the data leaked was full names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
You might be thinking that this information is not that important to be hacked or something similar, but you need to take into account the place where it all happened. This means that visitors were very sure their data was protected since it was a prison, but now their personal data is being exposed to prisoners with access to electronic devices.
It’s true that the leak was unintentional, but it worries a lot of the affected people because they fear the possible risks of this situation (threats, stalking, or extortion).
Prisoners have access to this information… but how?
Inside the ECI, prisoners have limited access to technology through kiosks and safe tablets. These devices allow them to send and receive emails but don’t think ECI staff members don’t supervise these emails because they do. However, a worker made a mistake and let prisoners receive the email with all the visitors’ data. Something that shouldn’t have happened…
The affected people have something to say
The Florida Phoenix, a regional outlet, talked with several people whose data was leaked. One of them, Jan Thompson, said he fears the situation could lead to violent extortion. He described the possibility of a prisoner giving a prisoner’s wife’s phone number to another prisoner for vengeance or enmity, which could result in the wife being threatened with harming her husband if she doesn’t do what she is told (maybe giving the extortioner some money).
Another case is the one from Patrice Kelly, who has already experienced a stalking situation in the past. After many years trying to remove her digital footprint to be safe, she could now be repeating the same horror because of this data leak.
What about the authorities?
For now, the Florida Department of Corrections hasn’t issued any public statement about what happened. According to The Register, they have tried to get an answer from the authorities, but nothing was said. This silence increases the frustration of the affected people who expected a formal explanation and clear actions to solve the issue.
This is not the first time this has happened in a prison…
In the United Kingdom, there have been data leaks in police departments, local councils, and even healthcare organisations like the NHS Trusts.
What if it happened to you?
Nobody expects their data to be leaked when going to visit a family member in prison, but this case proves it can happen anywhere. So, if you or someone close to you has been affected. Have this in mind:
- Don’t trust any suspicious messages, calls, and emails.
- Be careful with unknown phone numbers.
- When necessary, ask for help to authorities or legal support.
This shows that protecting our personal data is key, mostly in contexts where privacy is a matter of safety.