Personal data on 59 people who received treatment at hospitals run by the Ground Self-Defense Force have been leaked on the Internet and remain publicly available, Defense Agency officials said Monday.
The information was erroneously leaked from the home computer of a senior Air Self-Defense Force officer in Tokyo who worked at one of the hospitals, according to the officials.
The leak occurred when the officer used the peer-to-peer file-sharing program Winny at home several months ago, Defense Agency officials said.
Fifty of the 59 have no links with the Self-Defense Forces, while the remaining nine are serving or retired SDF officers, the GSDF said.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's information security team has confirmed the leak and informed the GSDF.
The GSDF had already apologized to the people whose personal information was leaked, but the data is still on the Internet.
"The leaked information includes data of people who are not members of the SDF, and we apologize for causing trouble. We will take measures to prevent such an accident," a GSDF official said.
There are more than 10 Self-Defense Forces-run hospitals across Japan, and about 10 are managed by the GSDF.
It remains unknown from which hospital or hospitals the data were leaked.
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