Privacy watchdog reports nearly 50 pc surge in data breaches in 2023

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) has released its findings on data breaches in 2023.

According to the report, there was a significant increase of nearly 50 percent in data breach notifications compared to the previous year.

The PCPD received a total of 157 data breach notifications, with 48 coming from the public sector and 109 from the private sector.

These incidents involved various types of breaches, including hacking, loss of documents or portable devices leading to inadvertent disclosure of personal data, etc. Data breaches from hacking increased from 2022's 29 to 64 recorded in the previous year.

In addition to data breach notifications, the PCPD also received over 3,500 complaints in 2023, representing a 7 percent decrease compared to the previous year. The decrease can be attributed to a decline in doxxing complaints.

Of these complaint cases, approximately 92 percent were against private organizations or individuals, while the remaining 8 percent were against public organizations or government departments.

Furthermore, the PCPD received close to 16,000 public inquiries in 2023, a 7 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The inquiries mainly revolved around the collection and use of personal information, particularly identity card numbers.

Additionally, there were 793 suspected fraud cases involving phishing calls, emails, or SMS messages, marking a 12 percent increase compared to 2022.

These findings highlight the growing challenges and risks associated with data privacy and the need for organizations and individuals to take proactive measures to protect personal data.