Heathrow is fined £120k for Queen’s plans leak
HEATHROW airport has been fined £120,000 over a data leak revealing details of the Queen’s travel plans.
A USB stick that was not encrypted or passwordprotected was found by a member of the public.
It was handed to our sister paper the Sunday Mirror, whose revelations in October last year sparked a major investigation.
Among 1,000 files were security measures for protecting the Queen, ID needed for restricted areas and locations of CCTV cameras and tunnels.
There was also a training video with personal details of 10 individuals “involved in a particular greeting party”, and details of up to 50 airport security personnel.
The Information
Commissioner’s Office, which handed out the fine, blasted the airport board.
ICO investigations director Steve Eckersley said: “Data protection should have been high on Heathrow’s agenda.
“But our investigation found a catalogue of shortcomings in corporate standards, training and vision that indicated otherwise.”
The ICO also found only 2% of the 6,500-strong workforce had been trained in data protection.
The airport’s own probe indicated the data was compiled by a rogue security trainer and had been lost on a commute.
The stick was found in Queen’s Park, West London.
Heathrow said yesterday: “Following this incident the company took swift action and strengthened processes and policies.
“This should never have happened and changes have been implemented.”