A JOBSEEKER has said he is “horrified” after logging on to an NHS job site and seeing other people’s data.
The 62-year-old from Bicester, who wished to remain anonymous, said he visited Jobs.nhs.uk to look for a new maintenance job.
But after registering his name on the site last Monday, he realised the details on the screen did not match his own.
He was presented with the details of another candidate, including her name, qualifications and the jobs she was applying for.
He said: “I realised my data was being carried over with someone else’s.
“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful. I was horrified. I’m reluctant to share any of my details, but I could see what other people had applied for, so they might have seen mine.
“It puts you off wanting to apply when you see that kind of thing.”
He said he had heard of similar incidents on the news involving other websites.
“All sorts of data gets lost, and if the big companies can’t keep hold of it, it doesn’t give you much faith.”
The NHS Jobs Team has since apologised to him for the mistake, which it blamed on a malfunction of a computer system.
In an email to the jobseeker, the NHS Jobs Team said: “Unfortunately, between the hours of 21.17 on Monday, June 20, and 09.14 on Tuesday, June 21, the NHS Jobs software experienced a computer system error, which may have led to a compromise of some individuals’ personal data.
“Although 500 people registered with NHS Jobs during the above hours, we can confirm that only 69 worked on an application and had their information at risk of being accessed by the other newly registered users.”
The site was suspended on Tuesday morning to resolve the issue.
The email added: “We would like to sincerely apologise and assure you we take the issue of data protection extremely seriously.
“We have reported this incident to the Information Commissioner and have taken steps to prevent it happening again.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel