'Error' behind data breach at financial regulator

Jersey's financial regulator has apologised for a data breach that affected 261 people.

The Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) said it was alerted on 24 June to information from the 2021 Transition and Annual Confirmation form had become publicly accessible.

It said the data had been available from 21-24 June and acted immediately to remedy the "error", which it said occurred during "registry system maintenance".

A JFSC statement said it was sorry for the breach and it had engaged with the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner following the incident.

The JFSC said: "As part of a minor maintenance update, a form that should not have been publicly available was categorised as 'public' in error."

It added people affected by the data breach had been notified.

"Trust and confidence in the security and confidentiality of our registry system is a critical priority," the JFSC said.

"We are sorry this issue occurred and have undertaken a thorough review to pinpoint the exact cause to ensure this does not happen again."

It was the second data breach involving the JFSC this year after another incident occurred in January.

During this breach, the JFSC said non-public names and addresses had become accessible.

It said the leak, which became public in March, did not link any individuals to registered entities or roles held.

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