The Ministry of National Defense today confirmed a data leak of basic personal information about certain high-ranking officials in response to a report from Chinese-language media, but said it did not include any information about personal asset holdings.
The China Times this morning published a report saying that personal data of people ranked colonel and above — including Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) — was leaked last week.
Citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter, the paper said that the ministry’s Ethics Office was in the process of compiling information on the personal holdings of senior officials, who are required by law to report their assets.
Photo: Taipei Times
The office usually sends the information to each individual separately, it said.
However, a file containing all the information the office had compiled was accidentally sent to the declarants and their military units, the paper reported.
Pseudonyms are used for military personnel for security purposes, but their real names are used for the asset report, the paper said.
In a news release, the ministry said that the office on Tuesday last week sent the asset reporting list to the appropriate units for authorization.
After an investigation, the ministry said it found some leaks of sensitive personal information in the reporting process.
The data included their service unit, title, name and reporting year, but not any personal savings information, real-estate holdings or investments, it said.
The ministry said it has already informed the recipients to return the document and perform risk control.
It also vowed to investigate the cause of the negligence and strengthen communication to prevent a recurrence.
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