The incident happened in the western city of Amagasaki, Japan.
After confessing that an entrepreneur misplaced a USB drive containing the personal information of 4,60,000 residents after a night out, a Japanese town has been left with more than a headache, CBS News reported.
In the western city of Amagasaki, Japan, an unidentified private entrepreneur was carrying USB drives in a bag when he went out for drinks after work on Thursday.
But on Tuesday evening, while working with a local pandemic relief initiative, he realized he had lost his bag.
According CBS Newsan Amagasaki official told reporters, “We deeply regret having profoundly damaged public confidence in the city’s administration.”
To facilitate sending the data to a contact center in the nearby city of Osaka, it was copied to the USB key. It contained all the names, genders, addresses, birthdays and other personal information of citizens in the city, as well as tax and banking information for some individuals, the city administration said.
However, there may be good news as the city claims the data was encrypted and the USB drive was password locked. According to local media, there is no indication that the data has been accessed. The police have been informed of the loss and are investigating.
“We will carefully manage security when handling electronic data,” Kyodo News quoted the city administration as reporting. “We will work to regain the trust of our residents by educating them about the importance of protecting personal information.”
According to a travel site, Osaka FactsAmagasaki in Japan is considered the region’s “hotspot” for nightlife.
Because there are so many izakayas (Japanese gastropubs), socializing with friends and colleagues over food and drink is the norm, the website says.
