GDPR: CNIL report on data breaches – December 2018

Introduction

In 2018-12, several personal data breaches were reported to the CNIL, affecting various sectors of activity. These incidents highlighted the vulnerability of personal data and the importance of adequate protection.

Sectors concerned

The sectors most affected by data breaches are:
– Trade; repair of automobiles and motorcycles: 32 times
– Financial and insurance activities: 22 times
– Public administration: 12 times
– Specialized, scientific and technical activities: 11 times
– Teaching: 11 times
– Human health and social action: 10 times
– Other service activities: 8 times
– Information and communication: 6 times
– Manufacturing industry: 5 times
– Arts, entertainment and recreational activities: 3 times
– Administrative and support services activities: 3 times
– Transportation and storage: 2 times
– Water production and distribution; sanitation, waste management and depollution: 1 time
– Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated activities of households as producers of goods and services for own use: 1 time
– Real estate activities: 1 time

Nature of violations

The types of violations encountered this month are:
– Loss of privacy: 122 times
– Loss of integrity: 12 times
– Loss of availability: 24 times

Number of people impacted

The number of people affected by these incidents is distributed as follows:
– Between 0 and 5 people: 42 times
– Between 301 and 5000 people: 25 times
– Between 6 and 50 people: 24 times
– Between 51 and 300 people: 22 times
– More than 5000 people: 15 times

Typologies of impacted data

The data typologies affected by the breaches are:
– Marital status (eg: name: 93 times
– gender: 93 times
– date of birth: 93 times
– age...): 93 times
– Contact details (e.g. postal or email address: 80 times
– landline or mobile phone numbers...): 80 times
– Identification or access data (e.g. identifier: 52 times
– password: 52 times
– customer number...): 52 times
– Data relating to financial information (e.g. income: 46 times
– credit card number: 46 times
– bank details): 46 times
– economical: 46 times
– NIR (Directory Registration Number): 16 times
– The breach concerns other data: 16 times
– Location data: 6 times
– The data concerned is not known at the moment: 7 times
– Data relating to offenses: 2 times
– convictions: 2 times
– security measures: 2 times
– Official documents (Passports: 10 times
– ID: 10 times
– etc.): 10 times

Origins of incidents

The main causes of these violations are:
– Other: 32 times
– Hacking: 53 times
– malware (e.g. ransomware) and/or phishing: 53 times
– Data of the wrong person displayed on the customer portal: 6 times
– Lost paper: 6 times
– stolen or left accessible in an unsecured location: 6 times
– Disposal of digital devices containing personal data without secure erasure: 1 time
– Equipment lost or stolen: 10 times
– Personal data sent to the wrong recipient: 16 times
– Unvoluntary publication of information: 7 times
– Personal information disclosed verbally: 1 time
– Mail lost or opened before being returned to sender: 2 times

Conclusion

Data Comply One (formerly Mission RGPD) offers a complete solution for complying with the GDPR thanks to its GDPR Software, its DPO Coaches, and its outsourced DPO services. These tools help prevent data breaches by ensuring the security and compliance of processing practices. We invite you to use our free Diag GDPR tool to assess your company's compliance.

Consult the CNIL interactive map to find out more.
For more information on notifications to the CNIL and the follow-up taken.
Data on notifications to the CNIL.