At the Policing Board’s October monthly meeting in public, Information Commissioner John Edwards addressed the Board on the findings of the ICO investigation into the PSNI Data Breach of 8 August 2023.
Board Chair Mukesh Sharma MBE DL said:
“The PSNI Data Breach was a critical incident that had serious reverberations within and outside of the PSNI. As a Board we remain very mindful of the immense impact that this Data Breach had within the PSNI and all the officers, staff and their families who were directly affected.
At today’s Board meeting, the Information Commissioner provided the Board with the key findings from his investigation and the fine now being levied on the PSNI.
The Board welcomed the positive commentary from the Commissioner on remedial actions progressed by PSNI, but concern was recorded on the size of the fine imposed given wider financial pressures within policing and public sector finances in NI.
The remedial actions of the PSNI in response to the breach, and the financial implications and liabilities arising from it, have been the subject of discussion at the Policing Board over the course of the last 13 months and will remain under scrutiny by the Board in monitoring implementation of actions from the jointly commissioned review by the Board and the PSNI which was published in December 2023.
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For further information contact the Board’s Communications Office on 028 90408500
- Footage of the Information Commissioner from the October Board meeting can be viewed here: Board Chair, Information Commissioner and Chief Constable remarks on PSNI data breach - October 2024 (youtube.com) The Statement from the ICO can be viewed here: What price privacy? Poor PSNI procedures culminate in £750k fine | ICO
- Find the jointly commissioned review here: A review commissioned by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB), into the PSNI data breach of 8th August 2023 | Northern Ireland Policing Board (nipolicingboard.org.uk)
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