We found DWP published thousands of sick and disabled people’s national insurance numbers online.
Jake Hurfurt, Head of Research & Investigations of Big Brother Watch said:
“The DWP’s reckless publication of data that could identify people receiving disability welfare is a gross violation of privacy.
“It underlines the department’s increasing appetite to hoover up and spit out welfare data without considering the reasons why they are processing it or even taking care to do so lawfully.
“The department needs to prioritise apologising to the people affected for putting their privacy at risk in the breach and warn them of the risk, instead of just removing the file and saying nothing.”
Mirror — DWP leaves thousands of people’s personal data online for more than two years
IT Pro — DWP exposed 6,000 people’s data online for two years