Japanese worker loses USB with entire city’s data after night out

The man spent the evening drinking with colleagues in the city of Amagasaki

People walk along the streets full of bars and restaurants in Shibuya, an entertainment district of Tokyo (stock image) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A Japanese worker lost a memory stick containing the personal data of almost half a million people after a night out with colleagues.

The man - who has not been identified - spent the evening drinking with colleagues at a local restaurant in the city of Amagasaki, north-west of Osaka, reported the BBC.

He reportedly passed out in the street after having too much to drink and then when he regained his senses realised that a bag and USB memory stick was missing.

Officials in Amagasaki said the man was a private contractor in his 40s whose job it was to sort out Covid-19 relief payments to households.

After transferring the data onto the memory stick he was meant to take it to an office in Osaka and transfer the data, but first went on the night out with colleagues. After realising the data was gone he informed police.

The information on the USB is understood to include names, addresses, dates of birth, along with more sensitive information such as bank account details.

The data was encrypted and also had a password. City officials said there is no suggestion of a data leak and nobody has tried to access the information.

An Amagasaki official told reporters: “We deeply regret that we have profoundly harmed the public’s trust in the administration of the city.”