08/14/2026
Alleged Data Breach Involving the City of North Adams
The City of North Adams is issuing this statement to provide accurate, factual information in response to a post circulating in the Facebook group “North Adams Now” alleging a security breach involving residents’ personally identifying information.
Based on the information currently available, the City has found no evidence to substantiate the claim that a widespread data breach involving personally identifying information has occurred.
The situation appears to stem from two separate public records requests.
In response to one request, the City provided a standard vendor list to Starbridge. That list contained only basic information - vendor names, addresses, vendor ID numbers, and amounts paid - and did NOT include Social Security numbers or other sensitive personal information.
Separately, the City acknowledges that sensitive information was inadvertently included in a public records response provided to one individual, Michael Milazzo, in response to a broad and extensive records request. That information was not widely distributed or otherwise made available to the public. Mr. Milazzo returned the documents and notified the City of the issue, and the City then took immediate steps to address it. At no point was any of this information provided to an AI company.
We have spoken with the attorney representing Mr. Milazzo, who raised the allegation and clarified that the file released in response to the Starbridge public records request does not contain the sensitive information describe in the post. We have also requested additional information to fully understand the basis for the allegation.
We take any allegation of a data breach seriously, and we take the handling and protection of sensitive information seriously. While the City continues to carefully review the records involved out of an abundance of caution, our findings to date do not substantiate the claims circulating online. There is no indication that any sensitive information was broadly disseminated beyond the single individual who received it, and that information has since been returned.
We regret that sensitive information was included in the response to Mr. Milazzo’s request, and we are reviewing our public records and sensitive0information handling procedures.
The City of North Adams remains committed to transparency and accountability, and we understand why residents are concerned when they see reports like this. We also have a responsibility to protect information that is appropriately confidential or sensitive, and to make sure the public has accurate facts.
Thank you.
