Personal details of clients at Cork letting agency leaked in data breach
A Cork letting agency became aware of the breach after it was contacted by an unconnected agency in Galway after the latter received the names and contact details of almost a dozen clients of the Cork agency.
The personal details of clients at a Cork letting agency were leaked in a data breach.
A report of a data breach at the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has been received by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) after details of clients of one letting agency were sent in error to another letting agency.
A Cork letting agency became aware of the breach after it was contacted by an unconnected agency in Galway after the latter received the names and contact details of almost a dozen clients of the Cork agency — including details of tenants.
The office of the DPC has confirmed that it has received a report of a breach from the RTB, adding: “The RTB has advised the DPC that it has investigated the root cause of the breach and has implemented security measures to mitigate any risk of this happening again.”
In a statement to the , the RTB said it is committed to protecting “all personal and special categories of data held”.
It added: “As a data controller dealing with large volumes of data, the RTB takes the privacy of its service users, staff and stakeholders very seriously. There are several procedures and policies in place to ensure that the rights of data subjects are upheld. These policies are under continuous review.”
The breach follows the introduction of a new tenancies registration software system at the RTB over a year ago. The new system has led to complaints from landlords and letting agents who are experiencing problems with the new system.
Last month, the RTB announced a temporary pause on the charging of late fees “in recognition of the genuine difficulties among its user community”.
In last month’s statement regarding the temporary pausing of fees for late registration of tenancies, the RTB said it wanted to reassure customers who have sent an email to the RTB, that it will be responded to.
The RTB added: “We would ask customers to bear with us and where possible avoid sending follow up emails, as we are working hard to clear our backlog.”
