Achi news desk-
On the day the system went live, a resident contacted the Lanarkshire housing association to say they could see other residents’ information, but the member of staff who dealt with the call failed to respond. with escalating the issue.
The society eventually suspended access to the system on July 19 after receiving four further reports from other residents – meaning the personal information remained accessible for five days.
Jenny Brotchie, regional manager of ICO Scotland, said: “While new digital products and services can improve the experience for customers, these should not come at the expense of the security of personal information.
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“This breach was the result of a clear oversight by Clyde Valley Housing Association in preparing to launch its new customer portal.
“We expect all organizations to ensure that they have appropriate security measures in place when launching new products and that they have been thoroughly tested with data protection in mind, as well as ensuring that staff are properly trained.
“We will take action when people’s personal information is not protected.”
Eleven residents were found to have logged into the new system during the time it was live, and the housing association has contacted them to ask them not to share, copy, or make further use of the data .
The ICO recommended that Clyde Valley Housing Association carry out rigorous testing of data protection before introducing similar systems in the future.
He also recommended that the association ensure that its employees receive suitable data protection training.
Clyde Valley Housing Association has been contacted for comment.
