A large data breach was created when sending the municipal tax assessments in the municipality of Land van Cuijk. Due to a technical malfunction at a supplier of the envelopes, in which the attacks were, 2140 letters were found to have been wrongly addressed. As a result, some of the attacks ended up in the wrong letterbox at people’s homes.
The house letter or additions were missing on the envelopes. As a result, some residents have not received a municipal attack, while for others several (including other people) copies fell on the mat. The municipality emphasizes that there was the right place on the notes themselves.
People who have received attacks that are not intended for them are called to send them back to the sender. “This way you prevent this information from ending up with the wrong person,” says Land van Cuijk.
The municipality says it has immediately reported the error to the Dutch Data Protection Authority because of a possible data breach. All residents involved were also informed by letter.
The municipality has now sent a new assessment to all 2140 addresses where it went wrong. People who are worried about the data breach or have questions can report to the municipality. “We find it annoying that this happened and understand that it can cause nuisance,” the municipality says.