On August 9, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced that it had set up an emergency risk assessment team and updated personal safety recommendations for police officers and staff of the force following the "accident" of data leakage of all staff that occurred a day earlier.
The incident saw personal data such as names, initials, qualifications, work addresses and departments of around 10,000 police officers in Northern Ireland made public. The data was mistakenly submitted in response to a freedom of information request, leaving the personal details publicly available on the requester's website for around 2.5 hours. The PSNI has described the data breach as "extremely serious".
At a press conference on the evening of August 8 (local time), the representative of this force, Chris Todd, apologized for the data leak. In the updated announcement, the PSNI stated that in addition to providing guidance on ensuring personal safety and security to all police and staff, the force is also ready to provide immediate support to those in special circumstances such as those at urgent risk or increased risk following the leak. The PSNI said it had engaged an independent consultant to assess the incident and what needs to be done to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future.
The leak is considered particularly sensitive in the British territory of Northern Ireland, where officers have been attacked by anti-government groups with guns and bombs. The Police Federation of Northern Ireland, which represents police in the region, said the incident was particularly sensitive because many officers there prefer to keep their work and duties secret.
MI5 has raised the threat level for homegrown terrorism in Northern Ireland to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely, after a police officer was shot and seriously injured while off-duty in February. The attackers are believed to be a small local opposition group.
According to a reporter in the UK, the country's Data Watchdog announced that it was opening an investigation into the above information leak. Specifically, Information Commissioner John Edwards said that the agency needs to assess the level of personal information exposed during the incident. Mr. Edwards affirmed that he will continue to "work with the PSNI to determine the level of risk and measures to minimize the risk of data exposure".
According to VNA
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