HSE apologises for data breach

THE HSE has apologised for a data breach that saw 147 candidates, applying for Grade III Clerical Officer roles in Wexford, receiving an email with every candidate’s email address included therein.

The 147 candidates received an email last Thursday, giving them advance notice of an interview, but found that all of the other candidates’ email addresses were included in that mail.

A follow-up mail was sent shortly afterwards apologising for the error.

Health Business Services (HBS) is the national shared service component of the HSE. It covers a broad range of business services, including recruitment, which is carried out through HBS Recruit.

A spokesperson for the HSE explained that, annually, HBS receives approximately 60,000 applications and makes 5,000 appointments from these.

He said the company made every effort to ensure the protection of all personal and sensitive details of each and every candidate.

He stated: ‘It is unfortunate that in the case cited, through a technical error, email addresses of others proved visible to individual candidates, in what was a generic email correspondence containing no personal or sensitive data.

‘The error in question was spotted internally and, immediately, each candidate was contacted by email to apologise for the mistake.’

He added that HBS Recruit had conducted a full investigation of the incident and put appropriate measures in place to avoid the occurrence of this in the future.