NZTA registers breached

The NZTA is contacting 1,480 individuals to advise them personal details on the driver-licence register (DLR) or motor-vehicle register (MVR) have been illegally accessed.

It says the information affected includes people’s full name and address, or the status, conditions and endorsements on their driver licences.

The agency was advised in late March that a motor-vehicle trader with authorised access to the DLR and MVR had their account compromised.

The NZTA has been investigating to ascertain the scale and nature of the breach. It is now contacting all potentially affected individuals with advice on how they may be affected, what support is available and what – if any – action they should take. 

New Zealand Police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have also been notified.

The NZTA is unable to provide further comment or release detailed information while investigations into the illegally accessed information are ongoing.

However, it has confirmed the illegally accessed information was gained through MotorWeb, a third-party online portal, after the identity of a car dealer and its staff was used to create a fraudulent account to access information held on the MVR and DLR. 

MotorWeb immediately cancelled the account when it discovered its existence and advised the NZTA of the privacy breach.

“We take our responsibilities for the protection of personal information extremely seriously,” says Brent Alderton, the agency’s group manager – regulatory.

“We apologise to the individuals affected and for any inconvenience or distress it has caused.

“The NZTA already had work under way to improve privacy protection. Following this incident, we have focused specifically on reviewing the third-party access to our systems to strengthen the protection of the information we hold. MotorWeb and the motor-vehicle trader are both assisting the NZTA with our investigation.”