Revenge porn fears as nude images of female officer shared online

A POLICE officer may have been a victim of revenge porn, with a force opening an investigation into explicit photographs shared online.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is investigating how images of a female officer ended up on the internet, amid fears that they pose a risk to her security.

It is understood that the images, which have been shared hundreds of times, may have been first uploaded via Whatsapp, the social media app.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the images are being distributed and passed among private groups of people with Uk-registered numbers. It is unclear how the images were obtained, although it is feared that they may have been stolen from a personal electronic device in a cyber hack or shared without her permission.

A spokesman for PSNI declined to comment on whether the incident was being treated as an act of revenge porn. In a statement issued yesterday, Chief Insp Keith Jackson said: “Police are currently working to establish the origins of a number of images posted across social media sites over recent days. An investigation is currently under way.”

PSNI officers have been warned previously to be aware of their online safety to prevent their details falling into the hands of terrorists or becoming a blackmail risk.

Although there is no official PSNI code of conduct for officers when using social media, there is a corporate policy that warns of the risks.

The PSNI also provides public guidance on its website, warning against sharing personal information or images with strangers or posting nude or nearly nude images or videos.

“It may seem like a bit of fun with friends at the time but there is always a chance those images could be shared or get into the wrong hands and could lead to harmful situations such as stalking, abuse or blackmail,” it says.