The Department of Corrections has acknowledged a serious security breach in one of the country’s newest prisons with a list of prisoners photos and names released online. The person who identified the breach says he was able to access the information when moved to a high risk facility.
Despite spending $217 million on a new state of the art prison 50 kms from Dunedin which will hold over 400 prisoners the Department of Corrections failed to prevent a simple privacy breach.
Te Kāea was contacted by a former prison guard who showed us where we could access the private information which outlined names, photos and prison details of 52 inmates.
He also claims he informed the Department of this breach some time ago. When Te Kāea contacted Corrections it was told that a former prisoner had stolen the muster sheet and posted it online. A spokesperson at the Privacy Commission said prisoners could make a complaint if they felt their privacy had been breached.
This situation follows serious privacy breaches at the ACC, Inland Revenue and Work and Income offices, it has also been revealed that the Auckland DHB sent confidential files to a journalist at the New Zealand Herald.
Corrections wouldn’t say whether the prisoners knew their details were posted online but police have now launched an investigation into the issue.