Dutch startup Snappcar data leak exposes user address and license plate: Check if your data is part of breach

The threat of data breach is increasing each year in terms of cost and the number of data breach incidents. Its high time to address the issue and protect themselves from new electronic data breach risks. Moreover, it is critical to understand the various risks and causes of data breaches to implement proper preventative measures.

65,000 data breaches so far!

It’s been more than a year now since the EU enforced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect the personal data of EU citizens. Interestingly, the European privacy authorities have received nearly 65,000 data breach notifications since the EU’s new privacy law went into full effect.

Unsecured access to data!

According to the latest report by rtlz.nl, SnappCar, a peer-to-peer car sharing community, had discovered a data breach that exposed the personal details of more than 50,000 accounts. However, the company was quick to react and resolve the error with a day. Further, the data breach has been reported to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, as per the law.

It’s worth mentioning that, through the unsecured API, one can take out address data and license plates of car rental companies without being logged in with a SnappCar account. Customarily, these data are shared only between owners and renters at the moment they have an accepted booking.

In an official statement, Snappcar said:

“As a sharing platform, we are aware of the importance of trust in our platform and the privacy of our users. We are sorry that we were not able to guarantee this privacy to the standard that our users expect.”

The company also claimed that there is no evidence that the address details, which were public for a long time, have fallen into the wrong hands.

“No other type of data (such as passwords, email addresses or financial data) was ever accessible publicly. Data from renters have also never been publicly accessible. We want to emphasize that the risk of a serious breach of privacy, such as identity fraud, is very small. Because no other data were available publicly and the fact that only people with a specific set of technical skills, after completing several steps, had access to the address data.”

Snappcar – a peer-to-peer car-sharing community

For the unknown, SnappCar is the peer-to-peer car sharing community in Europe, dedicated itself to reducing the number of cars in Europe by 5 million in 2022. Currently operating in The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, the company acts as a social, sustainable and cheaper solution for transportation.

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