University of Essex data breach affecting over 400 students "could lead to identity theft"
The institute says its taking it "very seriously"
Last updated 4th May 2022
The law firm representing students affected by a data breach at the University of Essex has warned it could lead to identity theft and fraud.
An email from an external partner of the university accidentally included a spreadsheet with more than 400 students' personal information on, including addresses, emails and nationalities.
The message, from facilities management, was to request payment for repairs to a broken door at an accommodation block and was sent on March 23rd.
Christine Sabino, from Hayes Connor, a law firm specialising in data breaches, is working on the case and says a huge amount of data has been shared: "I haven't seen as much data in one data set on any of the other breaches that we act for.
"This is a comprehensive amount of data, which we're worried could get into the wrong hands because of what could be done with it."
She suggests that fraudulent student finance applications could be made using the leaked information: "The main concern here is identity theft and fraud.
"It's quite clear that this level of data would enable that - if someone had the ability or wanted to carry out identity fraud, they'd be able to do so quite easily off this information.
"A number of the people that we have spoken to are also concerned about the possibility that someone might be able to go onto Student Finance and make false applications because they have all of the information that's required for the student finance applications in this data."
A University of Essex spokesman said: “We are taking this issue very seriously and ensuring our delivery partners understand our high expectations about the management of data.
“We’ve contacted all individuals involved to offer advice and support.”