AN INVESTIGATION has been launched following an apparent leak of information including Ukrainian refugees and their hosts from a Scottish council’s online system.
Angus Council apologised for the “serious data protection breach” on Friday which it “moved swiftly” to fix and said it had referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The local authority said the leaked data came from an online test system that somehow released information to the public through two Facebook groups for homes for Ukrainian refugees.
The council said the links were removed quickly once it had been made aware of the breach, but it did not say how long the leaked information was left available to the public.
It’s understood the information which was shared with the Facebook groups related to Ukrainians and their hosts involved in the Homes for Ukraine Resettlement scheme in the area.
A spokesperson for Angus Council said: “It is as yet unclear how this happened and is currently part of the council’s investigation, which, if appropriate, will be reported to Police Scotland.
“The data was contained within a system, not a file, so was not available to be digitally exported, although it could potentially have been copied.
“Angus Council will be contacting those affected directly where possible to advise them of the data breach, apologise and offer support.”
Any member of the public who believes they may have been affected by the data leak is asked to contact the council by emailing resettlement@angus.gov.uk.
