Detainees’ data mistakenly put online

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said personal information of more than 6,000 people in its custody was inadvertently posted to its website for about five hours.

The information included names, nationalities, detention centers where the people were held and unique numbers used to identify them in government records, according to Human Rights First, an advocacy group that discovered the leak this week.

All 6,252 people whose identities were exposed expressed fear of persecution if courts denied their bids to remain in the United States and were returned home, according to Human Rights First.

ICE said an Excel spreadsheet was erroneously posted “while performing routine updates” and the agency deleted the information from its public website 11 minutes after being notified.

“Though unintentional, this release of information is a breach of policy and the agency is investigating the incident and taking all corrective actions necessary,” the agency said.