Council reprimanded after exposing sensitive data

Hammersmith and Fulham Council left "sensitive" data about children online

A west London council has been reprimanded after personal details of more than 6,500 people including "sensitive" data about children was left online for almost two years.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council inadvertently published the data when responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request in October 2021.

The local authority's response included an excel spreadsheet with 35 hidden workbooks, 10 of which contained personal details, which was not discovered until November 2023.

A council spokesperson said the error was fixed as soon as they were notified and staff are no longer allowed to supply information using the same format.

'Children in council care'

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said the council's response to the FoI was uploaded to its own online disclosure log and provided to the website What Do They Know? (WDTK), which the request was made through.

WDTK published the response on its own site in December 2021.

The breach was not identified until WDTK completed a review of its website, after which it informed the council.

The information was taken down from both sites.

According to the ICO, a total of 6,528 people were affected, 2,342 of whom were children.

While the adult data set included council employees, former employees and agency staff, the personal information belonging to children was described as sensitive in nature and related to the placement of looked-after children in the council's care.

The ICO said children's personal data is considered "deserving of specific protection" and in this case, of particular concern was the personal data belonging to 96 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

There is no evidence the data was inappropriately accessed, processed or shared.

The ICO noted a number of remedial steps taken by the council, including that redaction and disclosure guidance has been updated and training completed with the relevant team.