Apology and investigation over data breach

Islington Council has apologised after finding its parking appeals website was insecure. The council has reported the breach in data security to the Information Commissioner’s Office and launched a full investigation into how it occurred.

It emerged on Sunday (25 October) that it was possible for the public to access personal information about appeals against Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) via the website.

After being alerted to the problem by local residents, the council immediately took the relevant part of the website offline and launched a full investigation.

This will include asking whether the data was accessed while the site was insecure, and, if so, by whom.

An Islington Council spokesman said: “We are extremely sorry about this incident, which we have reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“The relevant part of the website has now been taken down, so there is no way personal data can now be accessed, and we have launched a full investigation.

“We are very grateful to the responsible local residents who pointed this problem out to us so that we could take action.”

While the investigation continues, drivers appealing against PCNs will temporarily be unable to access pictures of their incident online.  The council is sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.