Suffolk Constabulary first published sex offence victims' data in 2019

Suffolk Police said an inquiry regarding the data breach had begun

A document published by police that included details of victims of sexual offences was "first published in 2019", the force said.

Suffolk Constabulary said the breach was discovered by a member of the public on 7 November and removed from the public domain as soon as possible.

Last week the force said it had begun an investigation into the breach.

It apologised for the "anxiety this unintentional disclosure of personal information will have caused".

The force confirmed an internal inquiry had begun and that officers were "seeking to establish how many people have viewed the information".

The information, contained in an Excel spreadsheet on the force's website, related to "inquiries into sexual offences and offences that occurred in schools which were reported between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2019", police said.

The force said it had been established that 2% to 3% of the published investigations "included information which could lead to someone being identified".

"In most cases no personal data was present," a spokesman added.

Suffolk Police said it had "implemented changes" to ensure it did not happen again

The force said the location of the document "would not have been immediately evident" on the force's website and that it was contained within a Freedom of Information (FOI) reply.

In a statement, the force said: "Officers and staff are continuing to assess the scale of the data breach.

"As part of their work they are endeavouring to contact those affected at the earliest opportunity to give support, reassurance and offer an apology.

"As part of the inquiry, we are seeking to establish how many people have viewed the information.

"No other reports have been made to us since this document was first published in 2019."

'Extremely sorry'

The force said all other FOI responses had been removed from the website and they were "confident" there are no other breaches of this nature.

The breach has been referred to the Information Commissioner's Office, it said.

Assistant Chief Constable Eamonn Bridger said: "Suffolk Constabulary is extremely sorry for the data breach and the anxiety this unintentional disclosure of personal information will have caused.

"We recognise and sincerely regret the additional concern this incident will have caused for victims of crime that we are duty-bound to protect.

"We are committed to making sure we do everything we can to avoid a similar incident happening in the future and have already implemented changes that will ensure these circumstances do not happen again."

If you are affected by issues raised, call Suffolk Rape Crisis on 0800 0850 520 or find support through the BBC Action Line.