DES MOINES, Iowa — The personal information of nearly 5,000 Dallas County residents was compromised two months ago when Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) case files were improperly disposed of, according to a DHS statement released Friday.
The data breach occurred Nov. 25, 2019, when contract custodians mistakenly emptied boxes filled with documents meant for shredding into a DHS dumpster. By the time the breach was detected, the dumpster’s contents, including the unshredded case files, had been hauled away, the DHS said.