Error in Register Sends Wandsworth Residents’ Personal Details to Cyberspace

A constituent of Tooting MP Sadiq Khan has drawn the attention of
Information Commissioner’s Office to a privacy breach he discovered
from a website that lists personal details including names, addresses,
age of individuals, and business locations and data, a Wandsworth
online news source reported.

The personal details originated from an automated electoral roll
register which went defective, resulting in the information listed
there being published in 192.com, an online directory that has a
section for people’s addresses, phone numbers, age guides, property
prices, and aerial photos obtained from electoral rolls beginning 2002
through 2010.

The concerned resident, who requested anonymity, said he initially
told Wandsworth Council not to redistribute his personal details to
third parties, but he got surprised when he saw them published in
192.com, which prompted him to report the data breach to the ICO and
his MP.

Investigation showed a malfunction befell one telephone facility that
compiles the 2008 edited register. Personal details of those who chose
not to enlist in the register were disclosed and the ones belonging to
those that opted otherwise were kept undisclosed.

The council pointed to a system glitch in the register that led to the
unwanted disclosure of Wandsworth residents’ personal details. Its
officials have already issued a public apology, adding that the
council took appropriate steps immediately not to let the data breach
take place again.

Despite the data breach, ICO has no plans to impose penalty upon the
council for its immediate action to address the matter.

Wandsworth Council has also directed the complaint to the website
publishing the personal details to remove all information that must
not be displayed there.