A popular file-sharing program exposed the private details of more than 150 people over the internet earlier this month, the Newfoundland and Labrador government said Thursday.

Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy said 694 files were affected by a breach detected last week by a New York-based security company.

Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy says there is no way of knowing whether the sensitive data was accessed online.
(CBC)

Kennedy told reporters that an outside consultant had installed LimeWire, a popular program used to swap music for free, on a laptop computer that was being used to work with data for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission.

As a result, information — including names, addresses, dates of birth and medical and work histories — related to 153 individuals was exposed, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said 108 of those people are clients of the commission, 42 were clients of the consultant's company, two worked for Eastern Health and one worked for the provincial Human Resources, Labour and Employment Department.

Kennedy said the information was exposed for more than three weeks, but said that does not necessarily mean any of the details are now in the hands of potential identity thieves.

"The file sharing program allows for access of various information that's on an individual's computer. It doesn't mean it will be accessed," Kennedy told reporters.

If the security company in New York had not identified this breach, it may never have come to light, he said.

The revelation came on the heels of a similar breach in November, in which data from the public health lab was briefly exposed over the internet after a consultant brought home a government-owned computer.

After that incident, which was detected by the same company, the provincial government instituted stricter rules involving government PCs and equipment.

Kennedy said that from now on, the government will ensure that outside contracts meet a minimum standard of security.

No criminal charges will be laid in the incident.