Council avoids six-figure fine after data breach

Southend-on-Sea City Council leader Daniel Cowan said the council had updated its Freedom of Information protocols, provided additional training, and introduced additional “stringent” checks since the data breach

A council has escaped a possible six-figure fine after a data breach that put personal details of 2,000 staff and councillors in the public eye.

Southend-on-Sea City Council reported itself to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after a spreadsheet including the details was included in an answer to a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) in May.

The council could have been fined a six-figure sum for the breach, but the ICO instead ordered it to ensure staff received additional training to avoid future breaches, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a report on its judgement, the ICO said: "The list of employees and former employees contained a significant amount of personal information".

It included special category data and listed contact details, employment and pay details, and health, gender, and ethnicity information, said the ICO report.

Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of the council said: "We have updated our Freedom of Information protocols, provided additional staff training, and introduced more stringent checks to ensure that personal data remains secure."