A JUDGE remarked that a well-known car-hire company has “a big problem” concerning data protection after she heard evidence that a man had apparently been duped into giving his driving licence and personal details to internet criminals.
Judge Patricia Harney was hearing the case of an unpaid speeding fine at Kilmallock District Court when the man, accused of speeding and neglecting to pay the fine, told her “it wasn’t me driving”.
The man in the dock came to court armed with train tickets and hotel receipts to show he was in Tralee at the time the car he was alleged to be driving at 60km/h in a 50 zone at Roxboro on August 29, 2024.
The car in question was a hire car, leased by the Go Car company, but the man before the court said he had not hired it.
Outlining that he had previously applied to set up a Go Car account, the man told Judge Harney that he received “a message by Telegram asking for my licence details to finalise the application”.
“Because I was setting up the account, stupidly, I sent my licence. Someone used those licence details to hire that car, but it wasn’t me. The first I heard about this case was a summons to come to court.”
The man told the court that he had approached Go Car to tell the company what had happened, and they had assured him that the licence would never be accepted by them again.
In addition, he said he “sent a cancellation request to Go Car about the account, I contacted the licensing people, I contacted the Gardaí, I did everything I could to fix this.”
Judge Harney remarked that “the most stupid thing you did was give people your personal details”, but she added that the issue raised bigger problems for the car hire company.
“It sounds like Go Car have a major data breach on their hands,” Judge Harney suggested.
She dismissed the case against the man, along with the fine and penalty points imposed on him.
