Security News > 2021 > May > Oops, says Manchester City Council after thousands of number plates exposed in parking ticket spreadsheet
Manchester City Council exposed online the number plates of more than 60,000 cars slapped with parking tickets, breaking data protection laws as it did so.
In what appears to be a sincere if misguided attempt to provide public accountability over parking wardens, the council publishes income from parking tickets online in the open data section of its website.
One Register reader spotted a problem: in three of the 20,000-row spreadsheets, published every month between 2018 and early 2021, drivers' number plates were detailed alongside precisely where and when they were hit with parking tickets and which parking warden issued them.
Naughty drivers who picked up parking tickets during April-July 2020 had their identities exposed, thanks to the council forgetting to delete the number plates from the uploaded spreadsheets.
A spokesman for Manchester City Council said: "Data not normally released to the public was in error published to the City Council's website. When made aware of this, steps were taken to swiftly correct this and remove the data."
One council operative, identified only as badge number MC1192, issued 5,662 of the council's 14,887 parking tickets for the month, raking in £69,864 with a further £155,266 allegedly outstanding on MC1192's tickets alone by the end of the month.