Stolen Camera Bag Puts UK Pupils' Photos and Names at Risk

A UK secondary school, Priory School in Lewes, has warned parents of a possible data protection issue after a vehicle belonging to its school photography supplier was broken into. Pret-a-Portrait told the school that between 6 and 7 October, a camera bag containing SD memory cards was stolen. Some cards may have held photos taken at the school, along with images of QR code cards that show pupils' names and class names.

The headteacher said the same equipment was used for three further photography jobs after the company visited the school on 1 October. Pret-a-Portrait believes most, if not all, of the school's files will have been overwritten as a result, but it cannot be certain. The school says other data, including addresses, contact details, financial and medical information, and safeguarding records, is held in its own systems and was not affected.

The company's owner, Nick Kerr, told The Register the exact scope could not be determined, and said it was likely to be somewhere between a small subset of the school's pictures and none of them. He said no printed photos were in the vehicle, and that analysis found no improper access to pictures from this job between the theft and the images being taken offline.