APOLOGY AFTER HONOURS LIST ADDRESSES POST
THE Cabinet Office has apologised after a list of the home addresses of New Year Honours recipients, including police officers, politicians, military figures and celebrities, was accidentally posted online.
The addresses of most of the 1,097 recipients could apparently be viewed for about an hour from around 11pm on Friday.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “A version of the New Year Honours 2020 list was published in error which contained recipients’ addresses.
“The information was removed as soon as possible.
“We apologise to all those affected and are looking into how this happened.
“We have reported the matter to the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) and are contacting all those affected directly.”
The list saw awards given to England’s Cricket World Cup winners, top entertainers including Sir Elton John, and prominent figures from politics and the legal profession.
Among them were the former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders and ex-Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, the architect of the Universal Credit system, whose knighthood sparked a backlash from critics.
The list also included senior diplomats and figures from the military.
Only six people honoured for services to defence were left off the list, according to the BBC.
The ICO, which has the power to fine organisations for data breaches, said it was investigating.
A spokesman said: “In response to reports of a data breach involving the Cabinet Office and the NY Honours list, the ICO will be making inquiries.”
Hackney councillor and charity pioneer Mete Coban, who was handed an MBE for services to young people, told the PA news agency: “If those responsible have apologised and it is a genuine error, then there is not much more that can be done.
“I understand why others are concerned, but most of my details are online because of the council work anyway. It is not ideal, but what is done is done.”
The introduction of General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules in May 2018 increased the penalties regulators such as the ICO are able to introduce.
It means breaches can result in the ICO issuing penalties equivalent of up to 4% of annual global turnover or £17m – whichever is greater.
Previously, the largest penalty the ICO meted out was to Facebook when it was fined £500,000 – the maximum allowed at the time – for failing to protect users’ personal data.
But in July, British Airways was fined £183m by the ICO for its own data breach – the largest penalty ever issued by the regulator.
The ICO later handed out a £99m fine to hotel chain Marriott International after it admitted the guest records of around 339 million people had been accessed.