Security News > 2023 > August > Cumbrian Police accidentally publish all officers' details online
Cumbria Constabulary inadvertently published the names and salaries of all its officers and staff online earlier this year, making it the second UK force in a fortnight to admit disclosing personal information about its employees.
In a statement, the force told The Register: "Cumbria Constabulary became aware of a data breach on Monday 6th March 2023 where information about the pay and allowances of every police officer and police staff roles as at 31st March 2022 was uploaded to the Constabulary's website, which was a human error."
According to the force, the information was removed as soon as its inadvertent publication had been identified, but it did not say how long it had been online before the error was discovered.
The ICO confirmed this to us: "Cumbria Constabulary made us aware of an incident in March 2023. The information provided was carefully assessed and the organization provided details about the steps taken in response to the incident. We provided data protection advice and concluded that no further action was necessary. We assess reported incidents on a case-by-case basis and any action is based on the specific facts and circumstances."
The news follows last week's leak involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland, where a spreadsheet containing details of serving police officers plus civilian staff members was mistakenly posted online.
While the police in Cumbria do not face the same kind of dangers, it is nonetheless worrying that two British forces should inadvertently publish information about their own officers within the space of a few months.