2,500 residents mistakenly gained access to other people’s personal information

Kolding Municipality mistakenly gave 2,500 residents access to other people’s personal information after a survey text message went to the wrong recipients.

The text was sent by Carelink, a healthcare staffing agency working for the municipality. The satisfaction survey was intended for residents connected to JobKolding, but it displayed another person’s name and the case linked to that person, such as a sickness benefit case.

The municipality said residents could not read other people’s CPR numbers. Several recipients contacted officials, who then shut down the survey shortly afterward.

Maja Decovski, the municipality’s head of employment, apologized and said the incident had prompted self-examination. “The error, for which Kolding Municipality is responsible, meant that the citizens’ telephone numbers became mismatched with their names,” she said. A person listed second therefore received the text intended for the person listed third and briefly gained access to the wrong questionnaire.

Decovski said the mistake happened because the municipality did not check whether the names and phone numbers sent to Carelink matched. Kolding plans to contact the affected residents, explain what happened and outline any possible consequences. It will also send a new satisfaction survey to the correct recipients after fixing the error.

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The error, for which Kolding Municipality is responsible, meant that the citizens’ telephone numbers became mismatched with their names.