Taxi drivers' names and addresses exposed in data leak

Taxi drivers are angry over the data leak by Sefton Council in Merseyside

Taxi drivers' names and addresses were published online in a widespread data leak on Merseyside, it has emerged.

Thousands of drivers licenced by Sefton Council could have had their details exposed for up to five months when the authority's databases became visible, it said.

The council has since rectified the error after it was discovered on 5 September - but the leak has angered drivers.

John McAteer said he “couldn’t believe" his eyes when he saw his details online and has been left feeling "totally exposed".

He added: "My first thought was for female taxi drivers and some stalker knowing their address.

"The scope for damage is huge."

Mr McAteer also raised the matter of having to deal with "unruly customers who become aggressive and offensive".

He continued: "The thought of people like that having the home address of me and my family is causing me a great deal of anxiety to say the least.

"It has made me feel very vulnerable and exposed.

"I’m wondering whether there’s people who I may have had arguments in the past turning up at my door. It’s just madness.”

The council has an information resource which includes business addresses for companies such as private hire taxi firms such as Delta and Uber.

It also started a new taxi licensing computer system in April this year allowed new and existing taxi drivers to apply for operating licenses in the borough.

This means drivers' details could have been freely available since April but the council did not confirm when the data breach started.

A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to anyone affected by this.

“We are currently carrying out an urgent investigation with our provider to understand how this incident occurred and steps that need to be taken to prevent it happening again.”