Police data breach: Norfolk and Suffolk police apologise after crime victims’ personal details leaked online

Data of more than 1,000 people, including victims of crime, have been leaked by two UK police forces in a huge data breach. According to the forces, personal information including information that identifies victims of crime, witnesses and suspects relating to a range of offences including sexual offences, domestic incidents, assaults, hate crimes and thefts were released as a result of a ‘technical fault.’

Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies said a technical issue led to some raw data belonging to the constabularies being included within the files produced in response to the FOI requests in question. It has been reported that the data related to “very small percentage” of FoI responses issued between April 2021 and March 2022.

However, the force said the data was hidden from anyone opening the files, but it should not have been included. Meanwhile, victims of sexual offences should have lifelong anonymity under the law.

The forces said the data impacted was information held on a specific police system and related to crime reports.

T/Assistant chief constable of Suffolk Police, Eamonn Bridger, who led the investigation on behalf of both forces, said: “We would like to apologise that this incident occurred, and we sincerely regret any concern that it may have caused the people of Norfolk and Suffolk.

“I would like to reassure the public that procedures for handling FOI requests made to Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies are subject to continuous review to ensure that all data under the constabularies’ control is properly protected.”

The East Anglian forces have said a full and thorough analysis into the data impacted has been completed and they have started the process of contacting those individuals who need to be notified about an impact to their personal data. Those who have had their data breached will be contacted via letter, phone, and in some cases, face to face depending on what information was impacted and what support is required.

It is thought the process will be complete by the end of September while the forces contact a total of 1,230 people, The force said within the notification, people will be provided with all the necessary information including what personal data specific to them has been impacted and details of who they can contact for support.

The data breach comes after it was revealed that The Police Service of Northern Ireland also experience a a major data breach at the start of the month where the details of its 10,000 staff members were mistakenly revealed.

A dedicated specialist team has been set up to handle any queries about the incident. They can be reached on 01603 276647 or email [email protected].

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been notified and is being kept updated.