Bracknell council sent abuse details to wrong person

Bracknell Forest Council confirmed the data breach had taken place

A council sent reports about a domestic abuse case and a cancer patient to the wrong person in a data breach.

Details of a family involved an abuse case, including information about children, were sent out by Bracknell Forest Council in December 2017.

The recipient, who knew the family involved, said they were "quite shocked" they had been sent the documents.

The council admitted the breach and said "appropriate action" was taken.

The recipient, who did not want to be named, said: "If I have received information about other people, who's to say other people have not received information about me?"

'Panicked'

Names, dates of birth and address of people involved in the abuse case were leaked by the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Another report sent contained information about a patient suffering from cancer along with their name, date of birth and address.

The recipient alerted the council and said social workers "panicked" upon being told of the breach.

Nikki Edwards, executive director of people at the council, said a "full investigation took place at the time and appropriate action was taken".

She added: "We take our data protection responsibilities seriously and act promptly whenever a breach is reported."

In December last year, a report said Bracknell's neighbouring authority, Wokingham Borough Council, had sent confidential personal information about a child sex assault victim to her attacker.