Concern as sensitive PSNI documents containing names and addresses of Loyal Order officials found by a member of the public on street

Sensitive police documents containing the names and addresses of loyal order officials in north Antrim and the north west have been found on the streets of Bushmills.
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The papers were discovered by a member of the public.

According to Apprentice Boys of Derry (ABOD) general secretary Billy Moore, he was handed 16 pages of what appears to have been a 27-page PSNI operations order relating to several ABOD parades in various towns and villages last month.

The detailed information relates to up to 20 local parades taking place ahead of the main Relief of Derry commemorations in the city on August 13.

Apprentice Boys of Derry General Secretary Billy Moore, has described the discovery as outrageousApprentice Boys of Derry General Secretary Billy Moore, has described the discovery as outrageous
Apprentice Boys of Derry General Secretary Billy Moore, has described the discovery as outrageous
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Mr Moore believes the sensitive information was originally provided to the Parades Commission when each of the ABOD officials completed their 11/1 parade notification forms. “These pages were found blowing around in Bushmills,” Mr Moore said.

“There are 27 pages and we’ve got 16 of them, so there are 11 of them still blowing about in the wind somewhere.”

The PSNI declined to comment on whether any officer had previously reported the loss of the document.

Superintendent Darren Rice said: “We are investigating a report of a data breach. Enquiries are ongoing to identify any potential risk and an initial notification is being prepared so to notify the office of the Information Commissioner.”

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Mr Moore continued: “These pages contain the names, address and telephone number of each of the members of our organisation who submitted 11/1s to the Parades Commission for their parade in their local area.

“It also lists all the police officers who will be at various locations for those local parades.”

Mr Moore said he is concerned that not all of the information has been recovered.

“I think this is an appalling and shocking leak of confidential information,” he said.

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“We were fortunate that whoever found these in Bushmills passed them on to an individual who subsequently contacted me and I went and picked them up.

“The difficulty is that there are still a number of these pages missing.

“It refers to all the [ABODH] clubs in the greater Causeway Coast and Glens council area - from Limavady, to Ballymoney, to north Antrim and all around that particular area,” he said.

Mr Moore speculated that there would have been only limited approved access to such a document that contained detailed information — including the names and locations of officers on duty at each location for the return parades that evening.

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He said it appears the full document contained the names and addresses of up to 20 ABOD officials who notified the Parades Commission of their respective parades.

“These had to be in the possession of a senior police officer, I would assume, not just a rank and file police officer.

“We didn’t discover all of them so dear knows where the other 11 pages from the 27 pages are lying.”

“When people submit 11/1 forms to the Parades Commission they put down their name, address and their telephone number, and they do this on the understanding that no one, other than those in the commission, is going to see or have this.

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“I think this is outrageous. Once our membership is aware of this, there will be a reluctance to put down confidential information [on the 11/1].

“Some of the people involved might work in jobs that take them into difficult areas, so it was lucky enough that these were found by someone that was sympathetic to us. These could have come into the hands of more sinister people.”

A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner’s Office said that “not all data breaches need to be reported to the ICO,” however, she added: “Organisations must notify the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach, unless it does not pose a risk to people’s rights and freedoms.”

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