Newcastle Council confirm major data breach

Newcastle City Council have confirmed there has been a data protection breach.

On 15th June , an employee in the council's adoption team accidentally attached an internal spreadsheet to emails inviting adoptive parents to the council's annual adoption summer party. The email and attachment were sent to 77 people.

This attachment contained personal details relating to 2,743 individuals, comprising current and former adoptees, parents and social workers who had been involved with these families.

The spreadsheet included personal information such as names, addresses and the birthdates of the adopted children.

The council say a thorough investigation was carried out into how this happened.

A series of measures have been put in place to contain the breach, minimise potential distress to those affected and ensure that such breaches cannot happen in the future.

Director of People, Ewen Weir, said:

“I am truly sorry for the distress caused to all those affected. We will work closely with the affected families and individuals to support them at this trying time. The council takes data protection and confidentiality very seriously and has acted swiftly to understand what happened and who has been affected. This breach appears to have been caused by human error and a failure to follow established procedures. We are conducting a thorough review of our processes to identify what changes we can make to ensure that this never happens again."

Anyone involved with Newcastle’s Adoption Service who has concerns can call the council’s dedicated helpline on (0191) 211 5562 for further information.