260 residents of the municipality of Geertruidenberg were victims of a data breach at the Social Affairs Department.
"On June 10, 2024, vacation pay was paid to residents on (supplemental) assistance benefits. Of these 260 payments, benefit specifications were sent out, showing residents what amount they received. These specifications were mistakenly sent double-sided printed," Mayor Marian Witte wrote to the City Council.
As a result, 130 residents did not receive a specification. In contrast, 130 other residents did receive a specification; the reverse side was found to contain the details of other citizens. These included names, address details, description, amount of amounts paid and bank account numbers. In most cases it concerned the payment of vacation pay. It also concerned special assistance for orthodontics, individual income supplement and legal aid.
The municipality discovered the data breach on June 11 and reported it to the Personal Data Authority (AP). Almost all affected citizens have since been contacted by phone. "We have explained the error and apologized," Witte said. It is as yet unknown whether the municipality will be fined by the AP.
