North Adams Disputes Report of 'Data Breach'
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Jennifer Macksey says a Facebook post accusing the city of a data breach is false.
She has scheduled a press conference for Monday to take questions.
Michael Milazzo posted that he received "private confidential records" from the city in response to a public records request.
These records were purportedly unrelated to his request but rather to a third party and inadvertently sent to him.
"It appears that the person who received the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of at least 419 individuals from the local area may be associated with web or AI-related development," he wrote on Facebook.
In a late-night message to local media on Thursday, the mayor wrote that "the City has found no evidence to substantiate the claim that a widespread data breach involving personally identifying information has occurred."
The information was a vendor list provided to Starbridge, which had vendor names, addresses, ID numbers and amounts paid. Starbridge is a public sector vendor platform run on artificial intelligence systems.
"Separately, the City acknowledges that sensitive information was inadvertently included in a public records response provided to one individual, Michael Milazzo, in response to a broad and extensive records request," according to the mayor's communication. "Mr. Milazzo returned the documents and notified the City of the issue, and the City then took immediate steps to address it."
Milazzo posted that he had notified the Police Department. Macksey said no sensitive information was given to Starbridge and that the city has spoken with Milazzo's attorney.
"While the City continues to carefully review the records involved out of an abundance of caution, our findings to date do not substantiate the claims circulating online," the mayor wrote. "There is no indication that any sensitive information was broadly disseminated beyond the single individual who received it, and that information has since been returned.
"We regret that sensitive information was included in the response to Mr. Milazzo's request, and we are reviewing our public records and sensitive-information handling procedures."
Milazzo has been encouraging residents to contact City Hall to ask if their personal information was included on the Excel spreadsheet he said he received.
"I am sharing this information because I believe people have a right to know when their personal identifying information may have been disclosed and should have the opportunity to find out exactly what happened, protect themselves, and obtain professional advice regarding their rights," he said.
Tags: data breach, public records,
