[UK] Local council accidentally published staff salaries online

In the UK, the personal details of 15,000 South Lanarkshire Council workers, including their pay rates, were accidentally published online last month, BBC News reports.

The local authority has confirmed that employee information was shared in a spreadsheet following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The data leak is understood to have also involved details such as National Insurance numbers.

A spokesman for the council reportedly said the breach was due to "human error".

The GMB said it would support any members who wanted to take legal action.

The information was shared on WhatDoTheyKnow, a website used for submitting and responding to FOI requests.

The leak happened in April following an application seeking details of staff pay grades.

In response, a spreadsheet was reportedly uploaded which was only supposed to include "anonymised employee data".

However, details on the second page of the FOI response were not anonymised.

It was discovered last week that the data shared included names, workplaces, salaries and National Insurance numbers.

Information such as bank details, dates of birth and addresses were reportedly not disclosed.

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council told BBC Scotland, "Unfortunately as a result of human error, the spreadsheet contained a second page of personal data that had not been anonymised.

"The error was noticed by the council and we arranged for that data to be removed.

"To the best of our knowledge the information was not accessed, and we believe the data could not be used in a way that would be harmful to those involved."

The council said that all employees affected by the data breach would be contacted.

In addition, a report has been submitted to the information commissioner.

Staff were right to be alarmed Ude Adigwe - GMB organiser - said, "This is a very concerning incident and poses serious questions about the council's data management processes.

"Staff deserve more than a simply assurance from the council that policies and procedures have been tightened.

"They deserve an investigation, the fullest possible explanation of how this happened and to be told exactly what measures are being taken to stop it happening again."

Unison's South Lanarkshire branch told BBC News it had met with the council to discuss the issue.

Source: BBC News

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, the personal details of 15,000 South Lanarkshire Council workers, including their pay rates, were accidentally published online last month, BBC News reports.

The local authority has confirmed that employee information was shared in a spreadsheet following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The data leak is understood to have also involved details such as National Insurance numbers.

A spokesman for the council reportedly said the breach was due to "human error".

The GMB said it would support any members who wanted to take legal action.

The information was shared on WhatDoTheyKnow, a website used for submitting and responding to FOI requests.

The leak happened in April following an application seeking details of staff pay grades.

In response, a spreadsheet was reportedly uploaded which was only supposed to include "anonymised employee data".

However, details on the second page of the FOI response were not anonymised.

It was discovered last week that the data shared included names, workplaces, salaries and National Insurance numbers.

Information such as bank details, dates of birth and addresses were reportedly not disclosed.

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council told BBC Scotland, "Unfortunately as a result of human error, the spreadsheet contained a second page of personal data that had not been anonymised.

"The error was noticed by the council and we arranged for that data to be removed.

"To the best of our knowledge the information was not accessed, and we believe the data could not be used in a way that would be harmful to those involved."

The council said that all employees affected by the data breach would be contacted.

In addition, a report has been submitted to the information commissioner.

Staff were right to be alarmed Ude Adigwe - GMB organiser - said, "This is a very concerning incident and poses serious questions about the council's data management processes.

"Staff deserve more than a simply assurance from the council that policies and procedures have been tightened.

"They deserve an investigation, the fullest possible explanation of how this happened and to be told exactly what measures are being taken to stop it happening again."

Unison's South Lanarkshire branch told BBC News it had met with the council to discuss the issue.

Source: BBC News

(Link and quotes via original reporting)