Data hack compromises Odessa residents’ personal information

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - The city of Odessa recently had a data breach involving its online payment web portal, and this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

The breach only affected users of the online Click2Gov system who made one-time payments for utility bills.

Odessa uses Click2Gov as third-party provider software that allows people to pay their utility bills online.

The data breach lasted from mid-April to late-June and is the second data breach on the system within the last year.

The city of says it began searching for a new online payment provider after the first breach.

“We are now researching other service providers,” said Devin Sanchez, Odessa Director of Communications. “Who is more secure. That’s our main concern right now is who is going to be the most secure.”

The software is owned by CentralSquare Technologies. We reached out to CentralSquare for comment but did not receive a response.

The city said it doesn’t believe any residents have been negatively affected by the breach.

Odessa isn’t the only city affected. Over the last four years, several data breaches have affected similarly sized cities such as College Station or Bend, OR. Both of those cities stopped using Click2Gov for their online payments.

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