PSNI fined 750000 for egregious data breach Ireland Live

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03 Oct 2024 1201 AM

ppThe Police Service of Northern Ireland has been fined 750000 for an egregious data breach in which the personal information of staff and officers was releasedppThe Information Commissioners Office ICO fined the organisation for the serious breach that left many PSNI workers fearing for their safety and said simpletoimplement procedures could have prevented itppThe ICO had previously announced its intention in May to fine the organisation 750000 and Thursdays announcement is confirmation of the final figureppThe breach happened in August 2023 when a spreadsheet released as part of a freedom of information request held hidden data with the initials surname rank and role of all 9483 PSNI officers and staffppPolice later said the information had got into the hands of dissident republicansppIn the aftermath of the leak some officers chose to relocate their homes cut contact with family members and change daily routinesppThe UK data regulator said that the fine should have been 56 million but as it was mindful of the financial constraints faced by the PSNI it used its discretion to reduce the total amountppThe ICO investigation found that the breach caused anxiety and distress for PSNI staff and officers with some stating that they had left the organisation or lost sleep due to concern about their safetyppUK Information Commissioner John Edwards said it was a lack of simple internal processes that led to the particularly egregious breachppHe said it served as a lesson for all organisations to check their process around data protectionppMr Edwards said I cannot think of a clearer example to prove how critical it is to keep personal information safeppIt is impossible to imagine the fear and uncertainty this breach which should never have happened caused PSNI officers and staffppA lack of simple internal administration procedures resulted in the personal details of an entire workforce many of whom had made great sacrifices to conceal their employment being exposedppWhilst I am aware of the financial pressures facing PSNI my role as commissioner is to take action to protect peoples information rights and this includes issuing proportionate dissuasive fines I am satisfied with the application of the public sector approach this has been achieved in this caseppDeputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said he wanted to acknowledge the impact the breach had which was difficult for staff and officersppAsked about what the total costs would be Mr Todd said that a universal payment of up to 500 for individual security measures for staff and officer had cost 34 millionppHe said that around 7000 claimants had taken legal action against the organisation over the breach which he said would be the biggest chunk of expenditureppIn June that process went before the courts and we accepted liability so that was committed to in June and the courts are now working through that process to determine how much exactly that will be he saidppHe said the 750000 fine will add to pressures on woefully underfunded police servicesppWe made the representations obviously hopeful that there might be an adjustment he said adding that they would not be appealing the amountppPSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said that the service was in a different place today than we were last AugustppHe said that tireless work continues to devalue the compromised dataset and significant crime prevention advice has been offered to officers and staffppHe added Todays confirmation that the ICO has imposed a 750000 fine on the Police Service of Northern Ireland is regrettable especially given the financial constraints we are currently facingppThis fine will further compound the pressures the service is facing Although the majority of the cost 610000 was accounted for against the budget last year a further 140000 will now be charged against our budget in the current financial yearppHe said While we are extremely disappointed the ICO have not reduced the level of the fine we are pleased that they have taken the decision not to issue an Enforcement NoticeppThat decision is as a direct result of the police service proving to the ICO that we had implemented the changes recommended to improve the security of personal information in particular when responding to FOI requestsppWork is ongoing to ensure everything that can be done is being done to mitigate any risk of such a loss occurring in the futureppThe Police Federation for Northern Ireland PFNI said it was disappointed at the 750000 fine on an already cashstrapped organisationppPFNI chairman Liam Kelly said the breach caused widespread understandable distress and concern and forced people to rethink their personal securityppHe added A fine of this magnitude on an already cashstrapped PSNI will have a negative impact on the organisation Even though provision was made for most of this last year there is still a hefty sum of money to come out of the current budgetppWere disappointed that our submissions on the level of the fine were not fruitfulppWe would have preferred if PSNI could have been permitted to alternatively spend the funds on enhancing its data security and provide much needed reinvestment in community safety initiatives such as road safety programmes and CCTV funding in partnership with local CouncilsppWere grateful the Information Commissioners Office applied discretion on the level of fine to be imposed which would have been 56 million Had that happened I have no doubt that immense harm would have been caused to the Service and the range of services the public have a right to expectpp testoarticolohtmlreplaceg pp pp4ppTo continue reading this article please subscribe and support local journalismppSubscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articlesppTo continue reading this article for FREEplease kindly register andor log inppRegistration is absolutely 100 FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites You can also sign up to our 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