BBC Panorama researcher involved in data breach

Eye
Another snafu from the BBC

BBC investigative programme Panorama has come under fire after one of its researchers has been involved in a major data leak.

The Independent reports that the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) is investigating the snafu after an "inexperienced researcher" downloaded files from a Dropbox account, put it on a USB stick and gave it to a third party.

The leak will apparently be treated as a criminal offence under Section 55 of the DPA (Data protection Act) and is intertwinned with another Panorama-related leak.

The incriminated researcher went on report to say that she leaked the files because she believed a documentary on alleged malpractices in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets was unbalanced.

It appears that the files were deliberately leaked but included data on a secret British military unit, which was not supposed to be part of the bounty.

That programme, which was aired back in November and entitled "Britain's Secret Terror Force", looked at the Military Reaction Force. Moreover, the identity of at least one serviceman from this controversial elite unit is said to have been compromised.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

Latest in Security
NHS
NHS IT supplier hit with major fine following ransomware attack
Data leak
Top home hardware firm data leak could see millions of customers affected
Representational image depecting cybersecurity protection
Third-party security issues could be the biggest threat facing your business
A stylized depiction of a padlocked WiFi symbol sitting in the centre of an interlocking vault.
Broadcom warns of worrying security flaws affecting VMware tools
Android Logo
Devious new Android malware uses a Microsoft tool to avoid being spotted
URL phishing
HaveIBeenPwned owner suffers phishing attack that stole his Mailchimp mailing list
Latest in News
Pro-Ject A1.2 in black, playing a vinyl record in a hi-fi listening room
Pro-Ject's new fully-automatic turntable could be the buy of Record Store Day 2025
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet reportedly won't release until after 2026, as Neil Druckmann says that staff 'are playing it at the office' right now - but I don't think I can wait that long
Screenshot from action RPG soulslike Lies of P
Lies of P Overture won't elaborate on the game's eyebrow-raising post-credits twist, and I think that's good news
Nintendo Switch 2
The Switch 2 launching with a Mario Kart game 'is very unlike Nintendo' compared to the original Switch releasing with Breath of the Wild, says former marketing leads: 'That's what's gonna make you want to buy the new hardware'
Kindle de Amazon
The latest Kindle update finally fixes page turning – and adds the perfect reading tool for my sieve-like brain
Waze voice control
Waze is ditching Google Assistant for Gemini on iOS, and for good reasons