Basingstoke and Deane Council has contacted 1,900 housing benefit claimants to alert them that their personal details has been mistakenly given out in response to a freedom of information request.
According to Inside Housing:
The local authority said it discovered an error in the FOI response to someone requesting information on the number of housing benefit claimants renting from a private landlord. Part of the spreadsheet giving the figures also contained the details used to create it, including names and addresses of those making the claims.
The council has tried to contact the person it had been sent to but has been unable to. The mistake has been reported to the police and the Information Commissioner.
The council said no bank details were released and it has no reason to believe that the information will be used for ‘identity fraud’. However, it has written to all those affected outlining steps they can take to protect themselves, including an offer to pay for extra monitoring of loans and other payments taken out in their name. It has also set up a special helpline.
Both the council and the Information Commissioner’s Office will now carry out investigations.
Laura Taylor, council director, said: ‘I am very sorry that this mistake has happened and for the inconvenience and distress this may cause. We take the security of personal information extremely seriously and we get a high volume of freedom of information requests. We have taken immediate steps to further tighten our procedures and will act on any lessons from the review and investigation.
‘It is likely that the person who got the information was making enquiries to lots of different councils to compare statistics and will not even realise that they have the personal information, but we cannot be 100 per cent certain. I do not want to worry people unnecessarily but felt that it was only right that we let the people affected know what has happened and give them advice on what they can do to protect themselves with our help.’
An ICO spokesperson said: ‘We have recently been made aware of a possible data breach involving Basingstoke and Deane Council.
‘We will be making enquiries into the circumstances of the alleged breach of the Data Protection Act before deciding what action, if any, needs to be taken.’