French Agency Pajemploi Reports Data Breach Affecting 1.2 Million People

Today, I saw a report on BleepingComputer that read, "Oh great...another data leak." This time, the French agency Pajemploi stated that someone had stolen the personal data of about 1.2 million people. If you are utilizing services related to childcare or home workers, this matters for you.

So, what happened?​

On November 14, Pajemploi was made aware that someone had stolen information from their system. They stated that 1.2 million people were potentially affected by this breach. Some of the data that was compromised include:

• Full name
• Place of birth
• Home address
• Social security number
• Name of the financial institution (not the bank account number)
• Pajemploi or accreditation number.

The good news: The following data was not stolen:

• Emails
• Phone numbers
• Passwords
• IBAN or bank account numbers

Finally, Pajemploi stated that they did not shut down any of their services due to the breach and that all services would continue to function normally.

Why is this important?​

If you are a parent, childcare worker, owner of the services, or someone who hires home workers, you could be affected.

When you have personal information exposed like your home address or social security number, people can try to impersonate you. Scammers may use the personal data to contact you.

I once received a call about a service I never signed up for, and I was completely confused. This kind of thing happens more often after data breaches.

What Pajemploi did — and what you should do​

Pajemploi notified the French data protection body (CNIL) and their cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) about the breach.

They claimed they resolved the problem and added extra protections to their systems as a result.

Here is what you should do now:

• Be on the look-out for any phishing messages or phishing emails asking for your personal information
• Review your bank statements for suspicious activity
• Change the passwords for your important accounts
• Use a credit-monitoring service if you have access to one
• If you are a parent and hire a childcare worker, ask them if they received alerts as well

Final thoughts​

Data leaks are common enough these days, but the personal impact it has on you is sometimes shocking. The Pajemploi leak is just another reminder to take it seriously and protect yourself.