Data breach exposes victims' details

author: FutureCar Staff    

The details of hundreds of crime victims, suspects, and witnesses were accidentally shared by two police forces in their responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests. Norfolk and Suffolk police revealed that a "technical issue" led to the inclusion of raw data, which could potentially identify individuals and contained descriptions of offenses, in the files provided in response to crime statistics requests between April 2021 and March 2022.

The information that was mistakenly shared encompassed various categories such as domestic abuse, sexual offenses, assaults, thefts, and hate crimes. Fortunately, the data was hidden from anyone who opened the files. However, the police forces have taken action and are now reaching out to the 1,230 individuals whose data was breached. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the U.K. data watchdog, has also been notified and is conducting an investigation into the incident.

While the ICO is currently unable to determine the full impact of the breach, it has confirmed that it is looking into this incident as well as a separate incident that occurred in November 2022. This disclosure follows a similar incident involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which accidentally published the names, ranks, and work locations of approximately 10,000 officers and staff in response to an FOI request. Another police force, Cumbria police, also admitted making a similar error in March.

In response to these incidents, Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies have made extensive efforts to ascertain whether the released data has been accessed by anyone outside of policing. So far, they have found no evidence to suggest that this has occurred. Eamonn Bridger of Suffolk Police, who led the investigation on behalf of both forces, expressed apologies for the incident and conveyed sincere regret for any concern caused to the people of Norfolk and Suffolk.

FutureCar Staff