Printouts containing the personal information and data of the individuals was left on display in the rear window of a car in the councils Penrith Town Hall carpark today.
The vehicle was parked up while the councillor was attending the council’s cabinet meeting held at Penrith Town Hall on Tuesday morning to agree the council's budget and council tax rise.
The breach discovered by a member of the public has been reported to the information commissioner along with the electoral commission and the council's data protection officer.
Cllr Neil Hughes has been named by Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson as the councillor involved in the data breach that has disclosed the names of local residents along with other personal information about them.
In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) in response to a post by the member of the public that discovered the breach Mark Jenkinson MP said “Wonder if the @LibDems @amcarmichaelMP has anything to say after yesterday’s identity theft press release?
I’m sure Cllr Hughes will be along to apologise shortly…”
It’s believed the information that was part of the data breach was potentially being used for party political purposes by the Liberal Democrats councillor Neil Hughes is a member of and who is part of the Libdem run Westmorland and Furness Council leadership, based on additional information contained on the documents using data originating from within the council.
One resident named who is an elderly person that lives on their own we have spoken with said she is “horrified the councillor had this level of information on her, let alone he has left it on display for all to see with my name, address, telephone number and age”.
A spokes person for Westmorland and Furness Council has said “ The documents” “are papers distributed by the Liberal Democrat Party, and therefore any data protection breach queries should be best managed by the Liberal Democrat Data Protection Officer.”
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