Fukuoka Prefecture: a list of about 9,500 people who tested positive for COVID-19 became openable by anyone on the cloud service used to share it, and leaked

1. 2020-11-30

   The prefecture's COVID-19 task force emailed a medical worker access to a folder, but sent it by mistake to another person with a similar address. [1]

2. 2021-01-06

   A news organization's inquiry revealed the leak, and the prefecture disclosed it. [1]

3. 2021-01-13

   The prefecture set up a dedicated line, open 9:00 to 20:00 including weekends and holidays, for people who tested positive and their families. [2]

The leaked file is the task force's list of COVID-19 positive cases, with names, places of residence, ages, genders and symptoms of about 9,500 people. The task force shared the data among medical workers on a cloud service, where it could be opened by people granted access or by anyone with a specific URL. [1]

The problem came to light when the wrong recipient pointed it out, and the prefecture restricted that person's access to the folder. But the files inside had no restriction and could be opened directly by URL. The prefecture deleted the files from the cloud and is checking how they were accessed. It will explain and apologize to the people concerned. [1]