Ministry of Justice

UK ICO reprimand for security failings

A reprimand has been issued after an unauthorised disclosure of personal information. A bulk amendment facility was used by staff to effect the required adjournment of a significant number of Magistrates’ Courts’ cases. Although the bulk adjournments were primarily made during April and May 2020, it was not until late September 2020 that it became apparent that the use of the amendment facility had resulted in guilty/not guilty plea records being incorrectly recorded. In some instances, this resulted in the incorrectly recorded verdicts being automatically cascaded onto the Police National Computer (PNC).