Scripps reporter found 170,000 Lifeline phone customer records online through a basic Google search. Social Security numbers, birth dates and other pieces of highly sensitive information were included in files posted publicly online. Reporters were investigating Lifeline, a government benefit-program that provides low-income Americans with discounted phone service, when they came across the sensitive data. The case bears some resemblance to a similar incident involving AT&T’s public website and used it to harvest the email addresses of over 114,000 iPad users.
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2013/05/reporters-legally-threatened-after.html