Police Ombudsman apologises to staff after data leak

Northern Ireland’s police watchdog has apologised to its staff after their details were inadvertently shared with almost two dozen job applicants.

The data leak at the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland involved the details of 160 current and former employees.

The information, which contained details of the workforce in May 2022, was contained in a three-page Word document that was released to 22 people who had been invited to participate in an interview as part of a recruitment exercise.

The document contained the forename initial and surname of all members of staff employed as of May 2022. It also listed the service area or team in which the employees worked and if a member of staff was part-time, agency, contracted or seconded.

To date, 20 of the 22 individuals have confirmed that they have deleted the email and associated documentation

Information on staff movements, including those who had resigned, were due to retire, were on career breaks, moving between teams, or new starts, was also included. Some forenames were included in that data set.

A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman’s office said no other personal information was contained in the leaked document.

“The office has taken immediate action to mitigate the breach, including contacting those who received the document in error,” he said.

“To date, 20 of the 22 individuals have confirmed that they have deleted the email and associated documentation.

“We have apologised unreservedly to our current staff for the error, which should not have happened, and are also contacting former staff whose details are included in the document.

“In total 160 current and former staff are affected.

“We have notified the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) and will appoint an independent external investigator to review the incident and make recommendations.”