Personal details were stolen by "malicious hackers" who accessed the email addresses to more than 13,000 people through Edinburgh City Council's computer system in a cyber attack.
The individuals who have had their details stolen were contacted by Alastair Maclean, the city's Director of Corporate Governance, asking them to change any passwords used to access the council's website.
A spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council said: "This was a malicious cyber attack on the Council's website which is hosted in a UK data centre. It was dealt with swiftly and at no point were any Council services affected.
"We are contacting everyone who has been affected to inform them of the incident and offer them advice and support. We have reassured individuals that the only details that have been accessed are their e-mail addresses.
"The Information Commissioner's Office has been informed and preventative measures have been taken by the web service providers.
"We want to reassure the public the ongoing security of our website is critically important, and we continue to work with our service providers to ensure that the risks associated with attacks are dealt
with."
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