A UK secondary school is warning families after a photographer's vehicle was broken into and SD memory cards were stolen. Priory School in Lewes said the hired company, Pret-a-Portrait, reported the theft, which occurred overnight between 6 and 7 October. Some of the cards may have contained photographs taken at the school, along with images of QR code cards that display pupils' names and class names.
Pret-a-Portrait told the school that it believes most or all of the files containing pupil data will have been overwritten by later jobs, but it cannot be certain. The company's owner, Nick Kerr, said the potential scope of the incident is unclear, ranging from a small subset of pictures to none. He also noted that no physical printed photos were in the vehicle and that analysis found no sign of improper access between the theft and the images being taken offline.
The school said other records, such as addresses, contact details, financial information, and safeguarding data, were not affected. Pret-a-Portrait has taken school photos offline, changed access IDs, and updated its procedures so SD cards are wiped after each commission. The incident was reported to the police and the UK Information Commissioner's Office. This account is based on a single report from The Register; no other sources were available for comparison.