Business Case

After repeated data breaches: new anonymization tool introduced to prevent errors at Familieretshuset

Familieretshuset introduces an IT system to prevent data breaches by anonymizing sensitive information.

Oliver Fjellvang

5 min to read

By the end of the year, employees at Familieretshuset will begin using a new anonymization tool designed to limit data breaches. Some staff members have already started using the system.

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Time and again, data breaches have occurred at Familieretshuset, but now it's supposed to stop. After the authority mistakenly sent information about specific individuals' stays at crisis centers to the ex-partners responsible for their stays in several cases, measures are now being taken to prevent further errors.

To address this, Familieretshuset has acquired a redaction software tool that will anonymize sensitive information before it is sent to recipients. This is according to Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang, CEO of Cleardox, the company providing the new system.

He states that the first employees in "the most important departments" at Familieretshuset have already started using the system earlier this year.

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"It is not fully rolled out yet, but almost. The full rollout will happen within the next six months," says Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang.

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Searching for Sensitive Information

‍When employees at Familieretshuset upload documents to the new system, the anonymization tool searches for potentially sensitive information and flags it for the user, who can then anonymize the content that needs to be removed or pseudonymized.

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The searches are based on several categories such as names, companies, job titles, mobile numbers, and email addresses, explains the Cleardox CEO.

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"We use machine learning and regular expressions to identify some of these things," says Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang.

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Several other authorities already use the same redaction tool to anonymize documents, but when it was first implemented at Familieretshuset, a special category of words was created to search for.
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"They have a special need to identify the names of crisis centers in their documents, so we've worked to make that possible for them," says the Cleardox CEO.

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A Difficult Client

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Familieretshuset’s handling of data has been under scrutiny several times over the past three years. Denmark's GDPR authority, Datatilsynet, has criticized Familieretshuset every year for the past three years for sending sensitive information to the wrong recipients.

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According to Cleardox’s Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang, Familieretshuset and Cleardox began discussions shortly after the institution was first criticized. The contract for the new system, however, was only signed late last year.

The procurement process, according to the CEO, has been more complicated than usual due to the sensitive nature of Familieretshuset’s cases.

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"Familieretshuset has been one of the more challenging clients, so it hasn’t been possible to just roll it out quickly," says Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang.

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"There have been extremely strict security requirements, and they want to ensure that our setup complies entirely with regulations. Because they handle so much sensitive information, a high level of security is required from us as a supplier, so we've had to conduct extensive testing and provide the proper certifications," he says.

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Fewer Data Breaches
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Although the first employees have started using the anonymization solution, there have still been instances of data breaches at Familieretshuset after its implementation.

However, Datatilsynet assesses that the causes of these breaches have mainly been due to human error. In short, employees at the institution have been too inattentive.

At the same time, Familieretshuset itself believes that "there has been a positive development in the overall number of data breaches."

Oliver Julius Byrch Fjellvang expects the full rollout of their redaction software to be completed before the end of the year. And even though Datatilsynet has recently issued another severe criticism of Familieretshuset in its latest ruling, the regulatory authority will continue to closely monitor the number of data breaches going forward.

Familieretshuset states that the authority is also working on other initiatives to prevent data breaches.

In addition to the new IT tool, updated workflow descriptions have been prepared, and regular training sessions are conducted for both managers and employees, Familieretshuset’s press department wrote in an email.

After repeated data breaches: new anonymization tool introduced to prevent errors at Familieretshuset

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Cleardox Team

Kontakt os

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Cvr.nr. 40984992

After repeated data breaches: new anonymization tool introduced to prevent errors at Familieretshuset

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Sikkerhed

Pris

Cleardox Team

Kontakt os

Få en gratis prøveperiodecontact@cleardox.io

Store Regnegade 2, 1110 København

Cvr.nr. 40984992

Få en gratis prøveperiode
contact@cleardox.io

Store Regnegade 2,
1110 København