Approximately 10,000 police officers in Northern Ireland were affected by a data leak.

On August 9th, the Police of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced the establishment of an emergency risk assessment team and updated personal safety recommendations for its officers and staff following the data leak affecting all personnel that occurred the previous day.

In this incident, personal data such as full names, initials, qualifications, work addresses, and units of approximately 10,000 police officers in Northern Ireland were made public. The incident occurred because the data was mistakenly submitted in response to a freedom of information request, resulting in the personal information being publicly displayed on the requester's website for about 2.5 hours. The PSNI described the data leak as an "extremely serious situation".

At a press conference on the evening of August 8 (local time), a representative of the force, Chris Todd, apologized for the data leak. In an updated statement, the PSNI clarified that in addition to providing guidance on personal safety and security to all officers and personnel, the force is also ready to provide immediate assistance to those in special circumstances, such as those at increased risk or facing an emergency following the leak. The PSNI stated that it has consulted an independent advisory firm to assess the incident and determine necessary steps to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future.

The leak of police information is considered highly sensitive in the British territory of Northern Ireland because police officers there have previously been attacked with guns or bombs by opposition groups. The Northern Ireland Police Federation, representing police officers in the region, considers the incident particularly sensitive because many police officers there want to keep their work and duties confidential.

The UK's national intelligence agency (MI5) has raised its internal terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland to severe, indicating a high risk of attack, following a February attack in which a police officer was seriously wounded while off duty. The attack is believed to have been carried out by a small opposition group operating in the area.

According to reporters in the UK, the country's data watchdog has announced an investigation into the aforementioned data leak. Specifically, Information Commissioner John Edwards stated that the agency needs to assess the extent to which personal information was leaked during the incident. Edwards affirmed that they will continue to "work with the PSNI to determine the level of risk and measures to mitigate the risk of data breaches."

According to VNA

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