Probe after bank details of firms sent by email to rivals

BANK details relating to a “significant” number of companies who do business with Tralee Town Council have been sent to rival suppliers by email.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, came about as a result of an error using a mail merge application used in the generation of pre-electronic fund transfer checks. This resulted in emails being issued out of sequence. Consequently, bank details of companies who do business with the council were released to other companies.

A spokesperson for Kerry County Council confirmed the data breach had occurred on Tuesday but declined to say how many businesses were involved, other than to say the number was “significant”. Following the error, an email was sent out to affected customers advising them to delete an earlier email which contained a third party’s bank details. “I wish to advise you that an error using a mail merge application was made in the generation of pre-EFT checks whereby emails were issued out of sequence. Consequently, you received banking details of a third party which you should delete immediately.

“Another party received your banking details but we are aware of who this is. We have contacted this party and requested that the email be deleted immediately,” the email read. A statement issued by Tralee Town Council said it was investigating the error and that the Data Protection Commissioner had been informed.

“On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, banking data relating to a number of companies who do business with Tralee Town Council was inadvertently released to other suppliers. Suppliers of goods and services to Tralee Town Council received an email containing banking data of another supplier,” it said.

“Once the council became aware of the issue, they immediately contacted the suppliers on Tuesday, asking them to delete these emails. The council again contacted the suppliers on Wednesday, explaining the circumstances, and asking them to delete the information. The relevant banks have also been contacted, as has the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

“No list of banking data was released. Only suppliers of goods and services to Tralee Town Council received these emails, and the council has full details of those suppliers who received this information in error. Tralee Town Council is now reviewing its procedures in order to ensure that this issue does not occur again.”