Northern Irish cops release 2 men after Terrorism Act arrests linked to data breach Nearly four weeks after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) published data on 10,000 employees in a botched response to a Freedom of Information request, another two men, aged 21 and 22, have been released on bail after being arrested under the Terrorism Act. The pair were arrested on Saturday September 2 in …
The fact the disclosure log is unavailable doesn't stop people making requests so I am not sure why El Reg has asked that question of the PSNI.
All that is currently happening is that the PSNI aren't publishing the requests and responses on their website when they answer them.
They will still be issuing responses to the individuals who make a request or they are breaching FOI requirements.
Quote:
The Terrorism Act 2000 states that a person commits an offence if they collect or make a record of "information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." It includes viewing, or otherwise accessing by means of the internet, a document or record containing information of that kind, so we'd assume the force's techies are sifting through server logs while others pound the pavement.
"Make a record of information of a kind likely to be useful etc......
So the PSNI has committed an offence by publishing the data, even if by accident.
How many of them are going to be arrested?
That’s lizard people. Please try to keep up.
Remember, Queen Liz didn’t really die, she just got tired of dealing with humans and went home to Rigel. (Anyone who thinks that there really are people who think this kind of thing hasn’t been paying attention.) Pope Francis is also a lizard person. The Orange Don is a toad person, from Betelgeuse. The lizard people are a lot smarter than the toad people.
Just the rozzers showing up what trashy people they are. Arresting people for their own mistake, but not the one(s) responsible for making the information public. And what a dodgy and dystopian law. It's so loosely written, just about anything could be talked up to qualify. A truly universal hammer with which to smite any who oppose.
The information was released in error. According to the UK papers someone downloaded it, printed it and stuck it to an outside, public wall. An error is an error and not necessarily criminal - perm any one of sacking, retraining or learning lessons. It is the actions of others after the event that is potentially criminal.
IANAL, but mens rea may not be required for a crime to be committed in cases of terrorism or misuse of data.
PSNI overly optimistic that some of this data is not already known to some to some individuals, though a big concern is there's various "dissident" republican groups who would have lacked that knowledge* that may have gained access to useful info via the recent leak. .
Secrecy is never as good as people think it is, especially as the "bad old days" of very frequent deaths / injuries (on both sides of the sectarian divide) are gradually receding (obv. still some sectarian violence) & as a consequence, for many, the full on hyper vigilant approach is on the wane - even though many deep divisions in society (& some grievances carried on down the generations)
* Sinn Féin & others on board with the peace process & have plenty of info but all sorts of "new" republican groups that are not onboard & not as well informed.
I was looking for a funny Brendan Behan (icon) quote but saw this one, "It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody."
After I got out of college I started working on building sites with a lot of Irish nationals in the early 70's ... and after drinking with everyone in the pub for lunch every day I started doing my search of the Irish vs England history which resulted in me completely supporting the Irish workers views of the crap (on both sides) at the time. So nowadays I believe that England needs to respect the entire Irish views as a result of our behavior in history. We (in England) eventually quit our relationships with Italy (the Romans) and France (as a result of 1066) ... so we need to be friends with everyone in Ireland just as we're friends with everyone in France (great wine) and Italy (Great pizza too).
All my life's visits to Ireland have been so nice every since the 80's and I love playing my bodhrán drum at home.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
