GDPR: CNIL report on data breaches – November 2018

Introduction

In 2018-11, 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: 40 times
– Specialized, scientific and technical activities: 22 times
– Financial and insurance activities: 20 times
– Public administration: 19 times
– Other service activities: 12 times
– Information and communication: 9 times
– Teaching: 7 times
– Human health and social action: 6 times
– Manufacturing industry: 5 times
– Arts, entertainment and recreational activities: 4 times
– Administrative and support services activities: 4 times
– Transportation and storage: 3 times
– Real estate activities: 2 times
– Accommodation and catering: 2 times
– Unknown: 1 time
– Water production and distribution; sanitation, waste management and depollution: 1 time

Nature of violations

The types of violations encountered this month are:
– Loss of privacy: 147 times
– Loss of integrity: 9 times
– Loss of availability: 23 times

Number of people impacted

The number of people affected by these incidents is distributed as follows:
– Between 0 and 5 people: 53 times
– Between 51 and 300 people: 32 times
– Between 301 and 5000 people: 32 times
– Between 6 and 50 people: 28 times
– More than 5000 people: 12 times

Typologies of impacted data

The data typologies affected by the breaches are:
– Contact details (e.g. postal or email address: 106 times
– landline or mobile phone numbers...): 106 times
– Marital status (eg: name: 112 times
– gender: 112 times
– date of birth: 112 times
– age...): 112 times
– Data relating to financial information (e.g. income: 49 times
– credit card number: 49 times
– bank details): 49 times
– economical: 49 times
– Official documents (Passports: 15 times
– ID: 15 times
– etc.): 15 times
– Identification or access data (e.g. identifier: 51 times
– password: 51 times
– customer number...): 51 times
– NIR (Directory Registration Number): 14 times
– Location data: 10 times
– The breach concerns other data: 30 times
– The data concerned is not known at the moment: 9 times
– Data relating to offenses: 4 times
– convictions: 4 times
– security measures: 4 times

Origins of incidents

The main causes of these violations are:
– Hacking: 65 times
– malware (e.g. ransomware) and/or phishing: 65 times
– Personal data sent to the wrong recipient: 31 times
– Other: 25 times
– Equipment lost or stolen: 16 times
– Lost paper: 4 times
– stolen or left accessible in an unsecured location: 4 times
– Unvoluntary publication of information: 23 times
– Data of the wrong person displayed on the customer portal: 4 times
– Personal information disclosed verbally: 1 time

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.