Post by The Dark Knight on Sept 10, 2024 18:16:02 GMT
A shocking data breach at Sefton Council has left hundreds of taxi and private hire drivers exposed to potential identity theft and harassment.
The personal information of licensed cabbies, including their full names and home addresses, was accidentally published online.
The council has since rectified the issue, but it is not clear how long the data was accessible before it was discovered on Thursday 5 September.
A spokesperson for Sefton Council acknowledged the breach, stating, "We were made aware of an issue on our taxi licensing website that meant personal information of some of our taxi drivers could be viewed by users. As soon as this issue was identified, the information was removed."
However, the apology offers little comfort to drivers like John McAteer, who discovered his information online. "I contacted the council straight away because I knew what a serious breach it was," McAteer said. "No one can tell us how long our personal information was up for."
The breach has raised concerns about the council's data security practices and the potential for misuse of the exposed information.
Experts warn that drivers could be targeted by scammers, stalkers, or even aggressive former customers.
Sefton Council is now facing calls for a thorough investigation into the incident and stricter measures to protect sensitive data in the future.
The spokesperson for Sefton Council added: “[We] would like to apologise to anyone affected by this."
www.phtm.co.uk/news/6998/phtm-news/sefton-council-apologises-for-data-breach-as-drivers-details-posted-online
The personal information of licensed cabbies, including their full names and home addresses, was accidentally published online.
The council has since rectified the issue, but it is not clear how long the data was accessible before it was discovered on Thursday 5 September.
A spokesperson for Sefton Council acknowledged the breach, stating, "We were made aware of an issue on our taxi licensing website that meant personal information of some of our taxi drivers could be viewed by users. As soon as this issue was identified, the information was removed."
However, the apology offers little comfort to drivers like John McAteer, who discovered his information online. "I contacted the council straight away because I knew what a serious breach it was," McAteer said. "No one can tell us how long our personal information was up for."
The breach has raised concerns about the council's data security practices and the potential for misuse of the exposed information.
Experts warn that drivers could be targeted by scammers, stalkers, or even aggressive former customers.
Sefton Council is now facing calls for a thorough investigation into the incident and stricter measures to protect sensitive data in the future.
The spokesperson for Sefton Council added: “[We] would like to apologise to anyone affected by this."
www.phtm.co.uk/news/6998/phtm-news/sefton-council-apologises-for-data-breach-as-drivers-details-posted-online