A data breach has been detected at the Province of Utrecht. When sending a Woo decision, business contact details (name, email address, and phone number) were accidentally sent to six recipients who should not have seen this information. In some cases, private contact details were also included. This concerns individuals working at the province on the Wolf dossier, as well as the details of (employees of) partners with whom the province collaborates on this dossier. A total of 90 individuals are involved. The province has reported the data breach to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Furthermore, the data breach is being investigated according to the applicable provincial protocol. The province deeply regrets this incident, especially for those personally affected.
After the province was notified of the data breach, contact was made with the six recipients of the information. They were urgently requested to delete this information and not to disseminate it further. One of them did not comply. An email has been sent to the individuals involved, informing them that their information was affected by the data breach. It has since become clear that some of the contact information is no longer current. The province is making efforts to inform these individuals through other channels. As far as possible, all those involved will also receive a separate email or letter from the province later this week, detailing exactly what information has been leaked regarding their person.
Evaluation
The province will thoroughly evaluate the circumstances surrounding this data breach and determine whether and what additional measures need to be taken to prevent data breaches in the future.
For press inquiries:
patricia.schalkwijk@provincie-utrecht.nl
06 51 99 45 32
