Cumbria police accidentally published names and salaries of all staff

Cumbria Constabulary admitted in August 2023 that it had accidentally published the names and salaries of every one of its officers and members of staff on its own website. The force said it became aware on 6 March 2023 that a file containing information about the pay and allowances of every police officer and police staff role as at 31 March 2022 had been uploaded, which it attributed to human error.

The breach affected 1,304 police officers, 756 members of police staff and 52 police community support officers, more than 2,000 people in total. The Guardian reported that data on people in covert and sensitive roles was included. The force said the file listed names, positions, pay and allowances, but not deployment locations or personal details such as dates of birth and home addresses.

Cumbria said the information was removed immediately once the breach was identified, and an internal message to staff indicated only a handful of people had accessed the data. The constabulary contacted every affected person, described the impact as low and set out the measures it had put in place to prevent a recurrence.

The force notified the Information Commissioner's Office, which concluded that no further action was necessary. The breach had not been made public until the Guardian reported it on 11 August 2023, days after a far larger accidental disclosure at the Police Service of Northern Ireland.