Security News > 2021 > June > UK Special Forces soldiers' personal data was floating around WhatsApp in a leaked Army spreadsheet
An astonishing data security blunder saw the personal data of Special Forces soldiers circulating around WhatsApp in a leaked British Army spreadsheet.
The document, seen by The Register, contained details of all 1,182 British soldiers recently promoted from corporal to sergeant - including those in sensitive units such as the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment.
Special Forces soldiers' identities are supposed to be protected from public disclosure in case terrorists target them or their families.
To help protect UK Special Forces soldiers' identities, whenever they enter the public eye they are always referred to by the MoD as serving with their former unit.
A former Army source told The Register the practice of sharing newly promoted people's personal details in a spreadsheet accessible by the entire 80,000-strong British Army was routine, but said: "Normally this is passworded and kept on the intranet."
Details of soldiers posted to non-sensitive units were also viewable in the spreadsheet, which covered the entire Army: all units from the Army Air Corps to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.