The need for cyber insurance was thrust into the spotlight again this week following another high profile hack of Uber’s data that affected more than 50 million people around the world, including some New Zealanders.
The Privacy Commissioner has announced he is currently monitoring news on the breach after the ride-hailing firm informed the commissioner’s office of the situation. The breach happened in late 2016.
According to the commissioner, the office was informed that the breach included the names, phone numbers and email addresses of Uber users in New Zealand, and that the breach did not include credit card or bank account information.
“While I am pleased the local representative of Uber has notified my office of the issue,” commissioner John Edwards said, “the one-year gap between the breach and notification shows why breach notification should be mandatory.”
Edwards said it is important for individuals to know if and when their personal information is lost so they can take action to protect themselves.
“People cannot take the action they need to take if they don’t know about the data breach in the first place,” he remarked.
Uber has also informed the office that it will be flagging affected accounts for fraud protection.
The commissioner’s office said it may investigate individual complaints from people whose information was lost in the breach.
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