Police Ombudsman NI apologises for staff data leak

Pelican Press · August 30, 2024

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Police Ombudsman NI apologises for staff data *****

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) has apologised for a data ***** incident involving 160 current and former staff.

A document containing some of their personal details was “inadvertently released” to 22 people who had been invited to a job interview.

The information included the surnames and first initial of all staff employed at PONI in May 2022.

PONI has contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office about the *****.

It will also arrange for an independent review of the incident.

In correspondence sent to those affected, seen by BBC News NI, PONI’s chief executive, Hugh Hume, acknowledged the incident would be “distressing”.

He added: “I apologise unreservedly. It should not have happened.”

The personal data was contained in a three-page Word document attached to an email.

As well as names, it also listed what areas individuals worked in.

In some instances working patterns were noted.

One page of the document also had a list of staff who had resigned, were due to retire, or were on career breaks.

The “majority” of those in this part of the document are listed using their first name and surname.

“No other personal information was contained in the document,” PONI said in a statement.

It added: “The Office has taken immediate action to mitigate the breach, including contacting those who received the document in error.

“To date, 12 of the 22 individuals have confirmed that they have deleted the email and associated documentation.”

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