The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
ITT apology for data leak
THE Institute of Technology in Tralee has apologised after students’ personal information was accidentally emailed to hundreds of other students.
The breach is understood to involve an internal Excel document containing personal details about numerous students, including their home addresses; mobile and land-line phone numbers; private email addresses and course details.
The document was mistakenly included in a group email sent out to hundreds of students in recent days.
Management at ITT have apologised to affected students and said they are taking steps to address the data breach.
“IT Tralee regrets to confirm that there was a Data Breach involving personal information belonging to a cohort of students in an email sent in relation to last week’s graduation ceremonies,” a college spokesperson told The Kerryman.
“At this time, the Data Protection Officer is taking all necessary steps to address the breach as appropriate, including contacting all students directly impacted by the breach and advising the Data Protection Commission of the incident,” said the spokesperson.
“The Institute takes the protection of data very seriously and extends a sincere apology to all students affected. We are currently investigating how this breach happened and will put measures in place to avoid such a breach occurring in the future.” Anyone with concerns is advised to contact ITT’s Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@ittralee.ie.