The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has been called on to reprimand Milton Keynes Council for a data breach which exposed citizens' information.
The local authority admitted to accidentally posting results from a residents' survey on its website, revealing addresses and phone numbers of 50 participants, the Milton Keynes Citizen reported.
Personal data from the survey, which asked for thoughts on a controversial park, remained online for around 18 hours towards the end of last week.
Dr Bob Ranger, who was against the play-park, was outraged by the council's actions.
"Anybody could have seen all those details in the time they were online. Nobody will accept responsibility or offer a genuine apology," Ranger said.
"We got a press statement written by the council's PR department that is supposed to count as an apology but adds insult to injury and inflames a delicate situation even more."
David Hill, chief executive of the council, said the organisation had apologised for the breach.
"Although not strictly required by the Information Commissioner's Office guidelines, we have notified a breach of the data protection legislation to the ICO and launched a data protection investigation," Hill added.
The Big Brother Watch called for the ICO to take action.
"This kind of basic mistake which seems to occur so often in local councils indicates both a lack of understanding of data protection and technology, as well as a lackadaisical approach to the privacy of local people," the privacy group said in a blog post.
"The Information Commission should investigate this case and punish those responsible."
The ICO received additional powers last year to fine companies up to 500,000 for data breaches. Thus far, the sum of fines handed out by the ICO is less than 500,000.
Last month, research indicated the ICO had fined less than one per cent of data breach cases since it was handed new powers.
"If the ICO continues to refuse to hand out punitive financial punishments for data protection breaches then they will keep occurring," the Big Brother Watch added.
"Simply asking public bodies to sign undertakings to improve staff training will not solve these problems."
At the time of publication, the ICO had not confirmed to IT PRO what action it was taking.
-
The IT industry’s shift to circular, low-carbon solutionsMaximize your hardware investment and reach your sustainability goals with HP’s Renew Solutions
-
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition reviewReviews This thin and light ultraportable will draw you in with its vibrant screen – but it isn't as powerful as some of its competitors
-
Starmer bets big on AI to unlock public sector savingsNews AI adoption could be a major boon for the UK and save taxpayers billions, according to prime minister Keir Starmer.
-
UK government targets ‘startup’ mindset in AI funding overhaulNews Public sector AI funding will be overhauled in the UK in a bid to simplify processes and push more projects into development.
-
UK government signs up Anthropic to improve public servicesNews The UK government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Anthropic to explore how the company's Claude AI assistant could be used to improve access to public services.
-
The UK’s AI ambitions face one major hurdle – finding enough home-grown talentNews Research shows UK enterprises are struggling to fill AI roles, raising concerns over the country's ability to meet expectations in the global AI race.
-
US government urged to overhaul outdated technologyNews A review from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found legacy technology and outdated IT systems are negatively impacting efficiency.
-
Government urged to improve tech procurement practicesNews The National Audit Office highlighted wasted money and a lack of progress on major digital transformation programmes
-
Government says new data bill will free up millions of hours of public sector timeNews The UK government is proposing new data laws it says could free up millions of hours of police and NHS time every year and boost the UK economy by £10 billion.
-
Online Safety Act slammed by rights groups as bill gains royal assentNews The Online Safety Act has been described as a veiled attempt to secure access to encrypted messages
