PSNI officers still check under their cars before leaving home - the data breach must be viewed in that context

The adjectives kept coming. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) data breach was “colossal.” It was “monumental.” It was “catastrophic.”

As Liam Kelly - the chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank-and-file police officers – told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday morning, “in my 29 years of the police I’ve never experienced something like this, and quite rightly the PSNI have declared this matter as a critical incident”.

On Tuesday, in a response to a Freedom of Information request, the PSNI mistakenly released the surname, first initial and employment details - including the location where they work and their department - of every serving police officer and civilian member of staff, more than 10,000 individuals.

Some details are particularly sensitive, not least regarding the 40 PSNI staff revealed to be based at MI5′s Northern Ireland headquarters in Holywood, Co Down.

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All of this information was published online, and available for several hours on Tuesday afternoon before the mistake was identified and the spreadsheet removed.

[ PSNI data breach: Police and politicians react to ‘appalling’ breach affecting thousands of staff ]

It has, to quote Mr Kelly again, left police officers “shocked, dismayed and basically angry”, not least because they go to “great lengths to protect their identities. Some of them don’t even tell their close friends and associates that they are actually in the police”.

This is the context within which policing still operates in Northern Ireland, and the context within which this data breach must be viewed.

Just over 300 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were killed during the Troubles, and civilian employees were also targeted; two PSNI officers have died – both murdered by dissident republicans – since its formation in 2001.

Earlier this year the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland was raised from “substantial” to “severe” – meaning an attack is highly likely – in a reversal of a downgrade the previous year, the first time in the grading system’s history that the threat level had been reduced.

[ Explainer: What we know about PSNI’s ‘major data breach’ ]

This took place weeks after the attempted murder of senior detective John Caldwell, who was shot several times by dissident republicans as he loaded footballs into the boot of his car following a youth soccer training session in Omagh.

Twenty-five years on from the signing of the Belfast Agreement, police officers still check under their cars before leaving home every morning.

Some, particularly Catholic recruits, cannot live in their home areas. They have to change their habits when visiting parents, or socialising; they may have to leave sports teams, or avoid attending the same church every week, or simply keep their job a secret, even from their families.

In these households, conversations have had to be had; the sheer scale of this data breach means discussions are taking place around thousands of kitchen tables, as each individual tries to figure out what this means for them.

If there can be said to be one point of mitigation, it is that home addresses were not released.

Yet when police officers and civilian employees have to be ever-conscious of their own security – and may have made significant sacrifices simply to do their job, the PSNI – of all organisations – should be expected to handle both security concerns and sensitive information with the utmost care.

That it could release so much data simply by mistake raises questions not just about security for those involved, but also about the trust in the PSNI - both from within and without – as well as the potential impact on morale, recruitment, and the position of the Chief Constable, Simon Byrne.

Investigations have already begun; there will be hard questions on Thursday, when Mr Byrne – who has wisely cut short his summer holiday to return to Belfast - will appear before the Policing Board. Expect plenty more adjectives.