Northern Ireland’s Police Federation has expressed ‘dismay and anger’ after the Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed details of 10,000 police staff in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The FoI request had asked the PSNI for a breakdown of all police and civilian personnel’s work roles and where they are based. However, when the police service shared the information, it included people’s names and was published online before being removed.
Revealing details of serving PSNI officers and employees can put them at risk because they could become targets of dissident republican paramilitaries. The response to the FoI request comprised a table containing the number holding certain roles but also included a spreadsheet with the surnames and initials of around 10,000 officers. It did not contain addresses.
Assistant chief constable Chris Todd said yesterday that the error was “unacceptable”.
Data breaches
“We operate in an environment, at the moment, where there is a severe threat to our colleagues from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and this is the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing this evening,” he said.
“I owe it to all of my colleagues to investigate this thoroughly and we’ve initiated that.”
But the Police Federation Northern Ireland, the body representing all officers up to the rank of chief inspector, said it was demanding answers, adding that the breach was of “monumental proportions”.
Its chair, Liam Kelly, said: “Even if it was done accidentally, it still represents a data and security breach that should never have happened.
“Rigorous safeguards ought to have been in place to protect this valuable information which, if in the wrong hands, could do incalculable damage.
“The men and women I represent are appalled by this breach. They are shocked, dismayed and justifiably angry. Like me, they are demanding action to address this unprecedented disclosure of sensitive information.”
Kelly added that there had been inadequate oversight of FOI procedures that must be addressed urgently. “New safeguards are obviously required to prevent this from ever happening again,” he said.
Jim Moore, an employee relations expert at Hamilton Nash, said the exposure had put officers in “significant danger”.
“As an employer, the police force has a duty of care and will have to quickly put mechanisms in place to protect their staff. However, it’s important to remember that police officers are not regular employees, but officers of the crown.
“This means they are subject to different rules and regulations from regular employees who are governed by standard employment legislation. There is a different process for officers than employees when it comes to unfair dismissal or tribunal settings. Even taking this into account, any employee found to be at fault for sending out the spreadsheet is likely to face a disciplinary process.
“Leaks of this nature are still too common, and companies need to take data security seriously or face severe consequences.”
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News of the PSNI data breach came on the same day as it was revealed that the Electoral Commission had been subject to a hostile cyberattack, opening up the data of millions of voters.
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