Japanese official loses pandemic relief data of 460,000 residents after night drinking

The USB included included names, gender, addresses, birthdays and additional personal information like tax data and bank accounts for some locals.

During a press conference held to address the public on the incident, an official from Amagasaki apologised for the lacklustre handling of private information and compromising public trust in the administration.

“We deeply regret that we have profoundly harmed the public’s trust in the administration of the city,” an Amagasaki official said.

The individual was working on a municipal pandemic relief programme and had copied information on the USB to transfer it later to a call centre in Osaka. Fortunately, the city explained that the data was encrypted and the USB is locked with a password.

According to the administrators and police, there's yet to be evidence that the data has been accessed.

“We will thoroughly ensure security management when handling electronic data. We will work to regain our residents’ trust by heightening awareness of the importance of protecting personal information,” the official added.

The data is supposed to help the city in allocating relief funds to the residents.

This is the second most bizarre incident to hit Amagasaki since the "Amagasaki Incident" which saw the murder of eight people, three missing and others becoming "murderers". The incident is said to have been orchestrated by a 60-year-old woman named Miyoko Kakuda who literally masterminded it through mind control.