Standard Bank and Lightstone Property have disclosed a data breach and said that some property owners’ information in South Africa was accessed without permission.

This happened through an online platform called LookSee, the two companies said in a statement on Friday. LookSee is one of Standard Bank’s home services platforms, which provides property valuations and trends.

LookSee uses Lightstone as an information provider for valuation and market intelligence on properties in South Africa.

Though neither party has provided details about how an unauthorised party gained access to the data, they did say that initial investigations have shown that “personal information of some property owners, including individual names, identity numbers, entity registration numbers, marital status and physical addresses may have been exposed”.

The compromised information does not contain any banking details, cellphone numbers or e-mail addresses, they said.

“Standard Bank and Lightstone take data security and privacy extremely seriously. Both organisations have implemented the appropriate containment and risk-mitigation plans and have reported the matter to the relevant authorities, including the Information Regulator.”

Urgency

The companies said they are working closely together to “give this investigation the support and urgency that it deserves and have implemented immediate remedial measures”.

“Impacted property owners are urged to remain vigilant and employ good security practices on all their digital platforms, including banking and social media. as a precaution.”

Property owners concerned that their property ownership details may have been compromised can contact Standard Bank on 0860 123 000 or Lightstone on 010 001 8068.