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PSNI data breach: Independent review to be launched

Pacemaker Chief Constable Simon Byrne enters the policing board meeting wearing his police uniformPacemaker
Chief Constable Simon Byrne heading into a meeting of the Policing Board on Tuesday

An independent-led review will be carried out into a major data breach within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Surnames and initials of 10,000 police employees were accidentally included in a freedom of information response.

The review was announced by the Policing Board after a meeting with Chief Constable Simon Byrne.

The board unanimously supports Mr Byrne, its vice-chairman Edgar Jardine said.

In a statement, the chief constable described the meeting as constructive and said the independent review would "provide answers".

"I recognise the gravity of the situation and the challenges ahead," Mr Byrne added.

'Damaged reputation'

The breach, and two others that were subsequently made public, caused considerable concern among PSNI officers and staff, who face continuing threat from paramilitaries and must be extremely vigilant about their personal security.

The board oversees the PSNI and has the power to hire and dismiss the chief constable.

Its chairperson Deirdre Toner, said the major breach and the subsequent breaches which came to light had "damaged the reputation of the service".

The independent review will publish an initial report within a month and a full report by the end of November.

It will be led by Peter O'Doherty who is an assistant commissioner at City of London Police.

The review is expected to investigate:

  • The processes and actions that led to the breach
  • Any organisational, management or governance factors that allowed the breach to happen
  • Any action required to prevent further data breaches
  • Any improvements to systems, organisational practices, cultures and behaviours

The policing board has also said it hopes the review will "restore confidence in the PSNI's approach to information security management".

The PSNI has apologised for the major breach which saw the names of all police and civilian personnel, where they were based and their roles, published online.

The information was taken down from the website at the PSNI's direction a few hours later.

Police then confirmed the list is in the hands of dissident republicans, among others.

Pacemaker Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton gets out of a car holding his police uniform cap in his left hand on top of a document filePacemaker
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton also attended for the meeting

A man has appeared in court in connection with this data breach.

Separately, on 6 July, in an unrelated incident, a police-issue laptop and radio, as well as a document containing the names of more than 200 staff, were stolen from a private vehicle in Newtownabbey, County Antrim.

In another incident, on 17 August, a PSNI laptop and a police officer's notebook fell from the roof of a moving car on the M2 in Belfast.

It happened on the Foreshore stretch of the motorway in the north of the city.

The PSNI confirmed that this notebook contained details of 42 officers and staff and sections of the book still have not been found.

They said the laptop that fell off the vehicle on the M2 was recovered and "immediately deactivated".