NationalNews

Queensland penalty agency under fire over privacy breach

Queensland's State Penalties Enforcement Agency (SPER) has come under fire after admitting to sending 10,300 traffic fines to the wrong people.

Residents had previously reported receiving envelopes addressed to them containing fines and notices of potential license suspensions, however on opening the letters found them addressed to different people.

The notices contained the names, addresses, license numbers and vehicle registration details of other drivers, violating their privacy and leaving them exposed to potential identity theft.

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Traffic backed up on the M1.

State opposition member David Janetzki raised the matter in state parliament, criticising the Palaszczuk government for the slip.

"Is service delivery so poor that the government can't even deliver letters to the right Queenslanders?" he said.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said a law firm had been engaged to oversee a review into the issue.

"The data incident resulted in an estimated 10,300 infringement debts being addressed to other debtors," he said.

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"We have engaged a law firm because in matters like this the state always reserves its legal position.

"Let's see what the independent forensic review says."

SPER distributes roughly 2.5 million fines every year.

The agency believes the error occurred on May 9 and was due to a printing error.

"I don't stamp and lick every envelope I get we get someone else to do that," Dick said.

Those caught in the error are still responsible for their driving and parking fines.

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