Scottish Borders Council apologises for data breach

Scottish Borders Council has apologised for a data breach which has affected about 600 customers.

The council had been in the process of alerting about 1,300 residents that they were eligible for a payment due to their receipt of free school meals.

However, it sent three emails with all recipient email addresses visible to multiple individuals.

The council "apologised unreservedly" for the breach and any distress or embarrassment caused.

A spokesperson said: "Those customers who have received an email which includes others' email addresses are asked to delete it. All payments will be made as planned to these individuals.

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"Individual email addresses were disclosed, this is personal information. The content of the email also outlined that eligibility for the payment was due to the receipt of free school meals, which we absolutely appreciate is a sensitive matter for individuals.

"We are taking the incident very seriously and have discussed it with the Information Commissioner's Office. We are taking steps to put in place a technical solution to minimise the chances of a similar incident occurring again."

Anyone affected with any specific additional concerns should contact the council's data protection team on [e-mail] or call 0300 100 1800.

All those eligible for the payment will be contacted to confirm eligibility before the end of this week.