What happened

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was fined £750,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) following a significant data breach.

The breach occurred when PSNI mistakenly released a spreadsheet that exposed the personal details of all 9,483 officers and staff, including their surnames, initials, ranks, and roles. This sensitive information was made public in response to a freedom of information request.

The ICO’s investigation revealed that PSNI’s failure to follow basic security procedures led to the data leak. These simple measures could have prevented the exposure of highly sensitive data, which caused great fear among officers and staff.

The ICO stressed that even under financial pressures, PSNI had a duty to protect its employees’ personal information.

Despite the financial constraints PSNI cited in contesting the fine, the ICO insisted that negligent data handling must be punished. Without the reduction due to PSNI’s public sector status, the fine could have been £5.6 million.

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