Names and home addresses of 1,000 New Year Honours recipients accidentally published on Gov.UK

[R0binHood]

The government has apologised "to all those affected" after it accidentally published addresses of more than 1,000 New Year Honour recipients online.

The file - which included details of senior police officers and politicians - was uploaded to an official website on Friday evening and removed Saturday.

The Cabinet Office told the BBC it was "looking into how this happened".

Among the addresses were those of Sir Elton John and former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders.

Also on the list of 1,097 honours recipients were high-profile names such as cricketer Ben Stokes, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, TV cook Nadiya Hussain, and former Ofcom boss Sharon White.

The data breach was described as "farcical and inexcusable" by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch.

Data rights lawyer Ravi Naik said the government could face legal action from those whose addresses were published, as well as from the ICO.

He also warned that anyone who came across the information should tell the ICO and not pass it onto others - because they themselves might face legal action.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50929543

Oops.

Good to see someone taking so much care with sensitive personal data that all that info gets published on Gov.uk for over an hour

How does that even happen?

 

[zappaDPJ]

I can't even begin to imagine how this happened unless it was deliberate.

 

[mysiteguy]

Punish the private sector when it happens with fines, but apologize when it's the government. Typical.

 

[MagicalAzareal]

That's the incompetent government we all know and love.

 

[Paul M]

That's the incompetent government we all know and love.

The "government" would have no actual part in the physical process, the actual people involved would be the same whoever was in power.