Council urged to make disclosure over Cork Park by Phone data breach

A former Lord Mayor of Cork has called on the city council there to make a full disclosure in relation to a data breach which resulted in personal details of more than 5,000 of the council's Park by Phone customers being accessed.

Since May 2015, Cork City Council has offered a Park by Phone service and 30,000 motorists have signed up to pay for on-street parking using a smart phone app.

On Friday, the council informed Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon that the personal data of more than 5,000 people who use the Park by Phone service had been breached.

The council told the data protection commissioner that this may have resulted in the names, mobile phone numbers, email addresses and car registration numbers of customers being accessed.

For the past three days, Cork City Council refused to say publicly how many of its Park by Phone customers were involved and how the breach occurred.

However, in a statement this evening the council confirmed that investigations suggest that the data of "approximately 5,000" Park by Phone customers may have been accessed.

The council said further investigations were necessary to confirm the exact number and that these investigations may take some time.

The Data Protection Commissioner says the first breach happened almost four months ago, on 22 May.

Cork City Council said auditors and consultants KPMG were working with the council's partner in Park by Phone, Park Magic.

The council said KPMG had reported that the steps taken since the data breach was discovered were "as would be recommended when such a data breach occurs".

The council insisted that the breach has been addressed.

The council said KPMG and Park Magic are conducting further detailed investigations on behalf of Cork City Council.

It promised to provide further details when it is in a position to do so.

Sinn Féin Councillor Chris O'Leary, a former Lord Mayor of Cork, said he wants the council to make a statement outlining how and when the data breach occurred, as well as the number of people affected.

Cork City Council has also asked gardaí to investigate the fraudulent use of parking credit as part of a garda probe into the data breach.

The council insists that no personal bank account or credit and debit card details were accessed.

It says no account balances were altered and no passwords were compromised.

The operation of the Park by Phone service has not been affected and the service continues to be operational.