Taiwanese authorities have fined car rental and ridesharing giant iRent after TechCrunch revealed the company was spilling customers’ data and identity documents onto the open web for months.
According to local media reports, iRent, which is owned by Taiwanese auto conglomerate Hotai Motor, received two separate fines for failing to adequately protect the data of more than 400,000 customers.
In a press release on Thursday, Taiwan’s highways division under the transport ministry said iRent violated the country’s data protection rules and fined the company NT$200,000 (about $6,600). The company was also ordered to improve its security by the end of February or face further fines.
Meanwhile, the government of Taiwan’s capital city Taipei also imposed a maximum fine of NT$90,000 (about $3,000), for failing to “fulfill its management responsibilities,” for which the agency described the circumstances as “serious.”
The fines landed days after TechCrunch revealed that iRent left an exp …
