Around 260 Tasmanian bus and taxi drivers have had their personal details accidentally sent to the wrong person in a government data breach that occurred last month.
The Department of State Growth revealed yesterday that licence renewal information for passenger transport drivers was mistakenly emailed to a licensing client instead of the intended recipient.
The breach exposed drivers’ names, dates of birth, home addresses, licence numbers and details about their permits to operate public passenger vehicles, including when those permits expire.
“This was not a system hack or a deliberate action, it was human error,” a spokesperson said.
“We have immediately suspended the electronic transfer of data from our system while we implement safeguards to ensure such a situation does not occur again.”
All affected drivers have been contacted by letter about the breach, which involved around 260 records for upcoming licence renewals.
Those whose details were compromised can request new licences and licence numbers free of charge.
