Parcelforce customers' names addresses and postcodes
were available online after a system related to the company's mail
tracker service failed.
Parcelforcehas now rectified the problem and apologised to
customers.
A BBC investigation
revealed
that when some customers entered their unique reference number for
tracking a delivery, they gained access to other people's delivery
details.
The BBC reported that in a period of 30 minutes,the system
revealed details of parcels destined fora wide range of locations,
including Cleveland, Swansea and Shanghai.
Name, postcode and signature details would allow fraudsters to
steal someone's identity. The data breach breaks rules set by the
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
A spokesperson for the ICO said,"Any organisation which
processes personal information must ensure that adequate safeguards
are in place to keep that information secure. This is an important
principle of the
Data Protection Act. Failure to protect personal details such
as names, addresses and signatures could lead to information
falling into the wrong hands and ultimately the loss of customers'
trust and confidence."
The ICO said it will contactParcelforce"to establish how this
security breach occurred and to find out what steps it will be
taking to ensure that such a breach cannot happen again."
Parcelforce said the problem hadbeen rectified and the service
was back to normal last night. It also apologised.
Photo by
Jason Bye/Rex Features