One Planet York App Data Breach

York Council’s bin collection app exposes personal details of 6,000 residents.

14:40 03 December 2018

The One Planet York App, a council-developed bin collection app, has exposed the names, addresses and passwords of residents who are currently using it.

 

On Monday, the City of York Council has issued an apology for the breach. It said it was not sure what the hackers, who had informed the council about the breach on November, had done with the personal data.

 

A letter from the council to app users reads: "We value your privacy and deeply regret this incident occurred.

 

"We have conducted a thorough review of the One Planet York app, we have deleted all links with the app and as a result, will no longer support it going forward.

 

"We have deleted it from our website and asked for it to be removed from the app stores and ask that you now delete it from your device."

 

The UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is set to carry out an investigation into the incident.

 

Ian Floyd, City of York Council deputy chief executive, said: “The council immediately undertook a controlled investigation to fully understand the nature of the breached data. 

 

“As a result of this investigation, a decision was taken not to reinstate the app and the council wrote to all the app users asking them to remove the app from their devices and check passwords in line with good practice.”