PSNI data breach: Two men, 21 & 22, arrested under Terrorism Act in investigation over ‘linked criminality’
TWO men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act by cops investigating the PSNI data breach.
The suspects, aged 21 and 22, were held following a "search in the Portadown area", the Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Twitter.
The post added: "The arrests are part of our investigation into criminality linked to the freedom of information data breach."
Detectives took the pair to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast for questioning.
The data breach occurred after a Freedom of Information response from the mistakenly divulged the information on its employees.
The FoI request had asked for a breakdown of all staff rank and grades.
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But as well as releasing a table containing the number of people holding positions such as constable, a spreadsheet was included.
This contained the surnames of more than 10,000 individuals, their initials and other data.
Detective Chief Inspector Avine Kelly said: “We continue to work toward establishing those who possess information relating to the data breach on August 8, and will take action to ensure that any criminality identified is dealt with robustly to keep communities, and our officers and staff who serve them, safe.”
However, Sky's senior Ireland correspondent, David Blevins, said the arrests were "not related to the data breach itself".
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He added: "The Northern Ireland Policing Board has ordered an independent review of how the names of 10,000 officers and staff were mistakenly released.
"But detectives are also investigating how the information has been distributed and have made a number of similar arrests in the last three weeks."