ComCom shockwave after thefts

More than 200 transcripts of meetings and interviews carried out by the Commerce Commission have been stolen during a burglary, sparking serious security concerns.

And the company responsible for storing the documents has said it doesn’t use “password protection”.

The documents — many of which are confidential — were on a computer belonging to an external firm that was stolen during a break-in.

Commission chair Anna Rawlings said it had contacted people most likely affected by the privacy breach as it continues to work with police investigating the crime.

The commission was also exploring legal avenues to block the publishing of the stolen documents and had contacted other third-party businesses storing commission documents to review their security.

Rawlings did not say how many people were affected by the security breach or whether the burglary of the documents was deliberate.

The commission had previously had a long-term relationship with the storage provider company.

But she did not reveal its name, saying it was important to protect the integrity of the police inquiry and privacy of people possibly affected.

She was aware of two other Government agencies using the same company for third-party data storage, but did not know if they had now severed ties with the company.

Rawlings said the commission was preparing an application for the court to stop anyone publishing the stolen documents.