Advice to HE Community - data breach of personal information

Data breach of personal information

Dear Home Education Community,

I write to inform you that unfortunately, there has been a data breach within our office on Thursday, 14 July 2022. 

The data breach was not intentional and was caused by human error.  Information was inadvertently sent via email to one person detailing the names, address and email addresses of other Home Educators. 

The error was immediately brought to the attention of the Registrar and the Assistant Registrar as soon as it was known.  The information was not sent to the broader Home Education community, it was received by one person only.

The Assistant Registrar rang the recipient of the email and requested that they delete the email, which was done immediately.  I appreciate very much the way that person has worked with us to raise this issue and the integrity and sensitivity with which they have handled this situation.

This breach does not involve all home educators, we are currently investigating who was involved in the breach and if your details were among those contained in the document you will receive a separate letter notifying you.  We are working now to determine who those families are and prepare notifications to you. 

I understand that it may be distressing not knowing whether your information was involved in this and we will work as fast as we can to complete this work.  If you have not received any further correspondence about this matter by close of business next Tuesday then you may assume your data was not involved in the breach.

I would like to reassure you that the Office of the Education Registrar (OER) takes the responsibility and confidentiality of your personal information and data very seriously.  I sincerely apologise for this error and want to reassure you that we understand the gravity of the situation.

My office has commenced an official investigation on how this has happened and more importantly, to eliminate the risk of this happening again.

The OER believes in a culture of open, honest and transparent communication with our families which is why I have determined to notify all registered home educators of this breach and the steps we are taking.

I understand that this incident may be upsetting, please be assured we are doing everything we possibly can to resolve this quickly and to notify those involved and to then move onto understanding fully how this happened and what we can do to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns by telephone on
6165 6135 or by email at registrar@oer.tas.gov.au.

Warm regards

Katharine O’Donnell
Registrar, Education

15 July 2022