SACRAMENTO, California — California’s utility regulator may have accidentally exposed “sensitive,” “confidential” or “personal” data of applicants seeking federal funds, according to correspondence shared with POLITICO this week.
What happened: A message from the California Public Utilities Commission dated May 8 indicates the leak happened between March 11 and April 30, affecting users of the regulator’s Broadband Grant Portal to apply for federal money to fund high-speed internet expansion projects.
In the email, sent to applicants, the CPUC said it may have exposed personal information about project applicants, like emails and phone numbers, as well as other details about their project awards. The telecom companies that applied were vying for the same pot of federal cash.
The CPUC said it closed the portal as soon as it learned of the “unintended accessibility.”
