Government apologises after 'error' sees addresses of New Year Honours recipients posted online

The Government has apologised for accidentally posting the addresses of more than 1,000 people who received New Year honours to the internet.



The major data breach revealed details of senior police officers and politicians as well as high-profile stars such as Elton John and cricketer Ben Stokes.

The Cabinet Office said the downloadable document, showing home addresses with house numbers and postcodes, had been visible for about an hour on the government website on Friday before being taken down.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "A version of the New Year Honours 2020 list was published in error which contained recipients' addresses.

"The information was removed as soon as possible. We apologise to all those affected and are looking into how this happened.

"We have reported the matter to the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and are contacting all those affected directly."

Others affected are believed to include former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders and senior Ministry of Defence and counter-terrorism staff.

Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, hit out at the mistake as “farcical and inexcusable”.

Director Silkie Carlo said: "It's extremely worrying to see that the government doesn't have a basic grip on data protection, and that people receiving some of the highest honours have been put at risk because of this.

"It's a farcical and inexcusable mistake, especially given the new Data Protection Act passed by the government last year. It clearly can't stick by its rules."

The ICO, which can fine organisations for data breaches, said it will be “making enquiries” after the incident.

Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, condemned the error as a “very serious breach of personal security” and told The Sunday Times there needed to be an “independent examination” into what happened.

Sir Iain also weighed in, with the newly-knighted former Cabinet minister saying: “Ministers need to be asking some very serious questions of those involved about how this was allowed to happen and why no final checks were carried out before the document was published.

“Everybody knows virtually everything about me. It’s much more concerning for private citizens, like those who have been involved in policing or counterterrorism or other such sensitive cases, to have their addresses published.”