Police Ombudsman sorry for 'distressing' data leak

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) has apologised for a data leak incident involving 160 current and former staff.

A document containing some of their personal details was “inadvertently released” to 22 people who had been invited to a job interview.

The information included the surnames and first initial of all staff employed at PONI in May 2022.

PONI has contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office about the leak.

It will also arrange for an independent review of the incident.

In correspondence sent to those affected, seen by BBC News NI, PONI’s chief executive, Hugh Hume, acknowledged the incident would be “distressing”.

He added: “I apologise unreservedly. It should not have happened.”

The personal data was contained in a three-page Word document attached to an email.

As well as names, it also listed what areas individuals worked in.

In some instances working patterns were noted.

One page of the document also had a list of staff who had resigned, were due to retire, or were on career breaks.

The “majority” of those in this part of the document are listed using their first name and surname.

“No other personal information was contained in the document,” PONI said in a statement.

It added: “The Office has taken immediate action to mitigate the breach, including contacting those who received the document in error.

“To date, 12 of the 22 individuals have confirmed that they have deleted the email and associated documentation.”

The Ulster Unionist Party has claimed the incident points to issues within the Ombudsman’s office.

The Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, is absent due to illness, with her responsibilities delegated to other staff.

An investigation is also taking place into an alleged incident at her home last year.

Doug Beattie, the justice spokesperson for the party, said: "They can only do what they can do, it’s done now. It’s been released, that’s the reality".

"It will cause upset to people and there will be a financial cost to this without a shadow of a doubt," he continued.

The Upper Bann MLA said that he thinks how the Ombudsman's office operates needs to be looked at.

He added: "I think the justice minister needs to have a look at what she can do to deal with some of the issues that we’re seeing within the Ombudsman’s office."

A PONI spokesperson said it is “entirely appropriate and normal” that the chief executive is leading the organisation’s response to the incident, as he is responsible for the operational management of the office.