Over 2,200 people impacted by personal data breaches this summer

Number of reported breaches dropped slightly from 61 in Q1 to 52 in Q2

There were 52 data breaches of personal data on the Isle of Man in July, August and September.  

The information commissioner has confirmed the breaches are believed to have impacted over 2,200 people.

It says 50 percent of the breaches were from the public sector and 50 percent were from the private sector, with 42 percent of them reported as ‘high risk’.

Eighty-three percent were reported within 72 hours and 17 percent reported after 72 hours.

Senior Compliance Officer Laura Doyle has shared tips on how to keep spreadsheets secure, as the commissioner says 'one of the recurring factors we see in breaches involving large amounts of personal data is spreadsheets'.

She says:

• Before sending a spreadsheet, make sure there aren’t hidden worksheets containing personal data. It’s easy to overlook!
• Don’t rely on filters to hide data - Filtering rows doesn’t remove them it just hides them. Anyone can unfilter and access the hidden information.
• Double-check for active filters - You might not be seeing the full dataset if filters are applied. Always clear them and review the entire file before sharing.
• Consider extracting only the necessary data instead of sharing the full file.
• Avoid using documents with personal data as templates - Overwriting old files can leave traces of previous data. Always start with a clean, data-free template.

You can find the full breakdown HERE.