Final answer:
An accidental disclosure is the unintentional sharing of sensitive information that may occur during the legal process of disclosure. It can happen at any level, from large-scale data breaches like the iCloud hack to individual exposure through phishing.
Step-by-step explanation:
An accidental disclosure refers to the unintentional release or sharing of confidential or sensitive information. In the context of the legal system, where an adversarial judicial system requires the exchange of information, accidental disclosure could occur if a party inadvertently shares evidence that was supposed to remain confidential. This might happen, for instance, during the process of disclosure, where lawyers exchange relevant information with each other.
A well-known example of accidental disclosure on a much larger scale occurred when hackers breached the iCloud data storage and leaked private photos of celebrities. However, accidental disclosures are not limited to high-profile cases and can also occur at an individual level, such as when personally identifiable information is accidentally shared due to a phishing attack or by clicking a malign link in an email.