ICO Looking Into Daily Mail Privacy Fail

The Daily Mail has leaked user data thanks to a technical glitch that appeared to sign its online readers in as the wrong person. The popular right-leaning paper will now face inquiries from the UK’s privacy watchdog.

On Tuesday, users complained that when they logged in to the Mail Online, they were recognised as a different person, giving them details of someone else’s name, date of birth and email address.

Daily Mail confesses all

Senior communities editor Tessa Meneux jumped in on a forum debate about the matter to say a “technical issue” with the user profile and login service “resulted in a bug with the display of user profiles”.

“When viewing your profile page users were presented with a copy of another users profile page instead of their own. The issue is now resolved,” she said.

“We take your privacy very seriously and we would like to reassure you that we have undertaken several rigorous tests to ensure that your data is secure.

“Other users were never able to see your password or other encrypted data, post comments on your behalf or make any changes to your profile.”

But The Register took it upon itself to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has said it will be looking into the matter.

“We have recently been made aware of a possible data breach which may involve the Daily Mail website,” an ICO spokesperson said.

“We will be making enquiries into the circumstances of the alleged breach of the Data Protection Act before deciding what action, if any, needs to be taken.”

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