Council / Council confirms Hill data breach but says financial information not leaked
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) has told people affected by a data breach to campaigner Stuart Hill that he has not accessed their financial information.
The SIC confirmed the breach today (Friday), and said it had completed an initial investigation into the information held by Hill.
It said the breach had not come as a result of a cyber attack or a phishing exercise, but did not say how he had come to access the information.
Hill sent letters to more than 100 people on Tuesday, informing them he had come into possession of a list of people served with a summary warrant in July 2024 because of money they owed Shetland Islands Council.
He claimed that there were sitting councillors on the list and said a data breach had allowed him to come into possession of the information.
In his letter, Hill said it was “a measure of the data security at the Shetland Islands Council” that he had been able to access the information.
He said the SIC has “absolutely no authority” to charge council tax and invited people to join the Sovereign Nation of Shetland.
The council said it would be reporting the data breach to the UK Data regulator, Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
“The ICO’s responsibility is then to decide if the council did enough to prevent the breach in the first place,” the council added in a statement.
The council said it was now in the process of contacting everyone affected by the breach, either by telephone or letter.
“There are some individuals still to receive their letters and the council would like to reassure those individuals the letter should arrive tomorrow (Saturday) or Monday,” the council said.
“Anyone concerned can contact the local taxation team on 01595 744683 during normal office hours.”
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