UK Council Faces Data Breach Claim Over Trans Complaints

UK Council Faces Data Breach Claim Over Trans Complaints

A UK council is facing a data breach claim after confidential complainant details were mistakenly shared with a local politician following a heated debate. 😱

Independent councillor Dulcie Tudor, representing the Threemilestone and Chacewater area in Cornwall, England, described the data breach as “crazy” after personal details of individuals behind a series of complaints were revealed to her. This incident arose after comments she made during a November council meeting led to ten complaints, including a controversial question about whether a trans woman is a real woman.

In a video posted on her Facebook page, Cllr Tudor explained that the complaints process usually allows complainant names to be shared with the individuals involved, unless explicit consent is withdrawn. However, in this case, the council included the details of all ten complainants, even though four had opted to redact their names. Furthermore, the subjects of complaints should not normally see the complainants’ home addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers, yet all this information was shared with Cllr Tudor. “It’s crazy,” she stated. “I shouldn’t know that.”

At the time of her video post, the council had not clarified how the breach occurred, whether they had informed the complainants, or if they had reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Cllr Tudor mentioned that she had to pass the information to the Free Speech Union, which is representing her, further spreading the sensitive information. She also took the initiative to inform the ICO on behalf of the complainants.

In an update, Cllr Tudor shared that the council claimed no wrongdoing occurred because the complainants’ personal information was redacted when the complaints were sent to her. However, she humorously pointed out, “Want to know how it became unredacted? I opened the files!” 😂

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