Details of 8.6 million car journeys were exposed on the internet, making it one of the biggest data breach Britain has ever seen.
The breach was from an unprotected database of the network of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch said that this “astronomical data breach that has jeopardised the privacy and security of many thousands of people”. She continued:
“The incompetent management of this appalling mass surveillance system means (its administrators) will have no idea who has had access to the data, when, how, why or what they might do with it.
“Detailed journey records of thousands of people could be exploited by criminals and pose a particular risk in stalking and harassment contexts.
“Councils shouldn’t be conducting this mass-scale snooping at all, let alone leaking millions of sensitive records on the internet.
“ANPR remains dangerously unregulated and deserves serious parliamentary attention.”