This week Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies confessed that, replying to a freedom of information request, they had managed to release the personal details of 1,200 victims and witnesses of domestic abuse. The information was not readily visible but could be accessed by those with technical skills.
The protection afforded by ID cards is only as good as the security of the system
This came just a week after the Police Service of Northern Ireland admitted that it had similarly released, again in response to an FOI request, the names and ranks of its officers, along with the offices in which they were based.
It is hard to think of a more damaging leak of private data. For years during the Troubles police officers in Ulster were being picked off, sometimes shot on their doorsteps. It is vital, if we want police officers to risk their own safety in order to fight crime and terrorism, that they are afforded basic protection of their personal data.
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