7,000 PSNI officers and staff take legal action as a result of major data breach

Level of financial liability must be established quickly: SDLP MLA

AROUND 7,000 claims have been filed relating to last year’s major PSNI data breach.

The details of approximately 10,000 PSNI officers and staff were inadvertently published online in response to a Freedom of Information request last August.

It was later branded “the most significant data breach that has ever occurred in the history of UK policing”.

While liability in the case has not yet been formally conceded, the PSNI said legal advice “has confirmed that the Chief Constable on a balance of probability would be found liable for damages as a result of the data breach”.

It saw the surname and first initial of every PSNI employee made public, as well as where they were based, the unit in which they worked and their rank or grade.

The information remained online for two-and-a-half hours before it was removed. The PSNI later confirmed the data had fallen into the hands of dissident republicans.

Thousands of officers have since filed claims for damages over the data breach.

The PSNI has said the incident could potentially cost the force around £240m in security and compensation payouts to officers and staff at a time when it is under severe financial pressure.

According to the answer to a recent Policing Board question tabled by SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan, around 7,000 claims over the breach have been filed.

“The liability has not yet been formally conceded, however, legal advice has confirmed that the Chief Constable on a balance of probability would be found liable for damages as a result of the data breach,” the PSNI added.

Mr Durkan said the impact of the data breach has clearly been “severe” on many officers and staff, “some of whom have had to make substantial changes to their lives as a result”.

“It is now clear that there is also a risk of substantial financial liability arising from the breach which will place significant pressure on policing budgets,” he said.

“I accept that the legal process is currently in train, but we need to establish the level of liability quickly so that we know what we’re facing.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “The challenges facing the Police Service of Northern Ireland in terms of budget and resources have been well publicised.

“The police budget is already under strain simply to deliver day-to-day services.

“The costs of settling claims related to the data breach is therefore a cause of concern, particularly as the potential costs of settling these claims are of such a magnitude as could not be met from either the police budget or the Department of Justice budget.

“The reality is this would be a pressure on the Northern Ireland block grant, which is not sufficient to meet existing needs.”

A review into the data breach carried out by Pete O’doherty, temporary commissioner of the City of London Police, was published last September.

Mr O’doherty’s review made 37 recommendations for improving information security within the PSNI and described the breach as a “wake-up call for every force across the UK to take the security of data as seriously as possible”.

The news comes after it emerged the Ministry of Defence was the victim of a data breach targeting current and former service personnel.