The New South Wales police say they have launched an internal investigation after more than 150 people had their personal email addresses leaked after complaining about the use of capsicum spray against protestors at a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney.
But victims of the leak say they have still not been contacted about the privacy breach and are considering taking the matter to the NSW information and privacy commissioner.
Last week, Samuel Leighton-Dore received an email from the NSW police informing him that a complaint he had lodged about the use of force against protestors after a Black Lives Matter protest in June had been dismissed.
In a letter from the Professional Standards Unit, the internal body responsible for investigating complaints against officers, Leighton-Dore was told that after reviewing body-worn camera footage of the incident police had concluded there was “no reason to conduct a further internal investigation”.
About an hour later, he received a second email from the same officer with the same letter attached. This time, however, the officer had also attached the personal email addresses of about 150 other people who had also lodged complaints.
Leighton-Dore tried to contact the NSW police to inform them of the incident. He was placed on hold, he said, before being hung up on. He then wrote about the incident on Twitter, saying it “felt like a significant data breach”.
The leak was first reported by Gizmodo, which was told by police that “at face value, it appears be an administrative error” and that they would “discuss with those whose email address was shared with the individual”.
One of the people who had their details leaked is Alisdair Bates, a Sydney community services worker who lodged a complaint with police after seeing the capsicum spray footage online.
Bates said the fact the police had divulged his details after making the complaint was “mind-boggling”.
“These complaints are supposed to be lodged and dealt with anonymously, and it does really make me wonder how they are dealing with people’s private information,” he said.
“I’m lucky enough to feel comfortable about talking to you about it but there are obviously a lot of people who aren’t as fortunate. Indigenous activists, members of the queer community, people of colour. Understandably some of the people who lodged complaints have had pretty dreadful interactions with the police [and] I don’t feel like it’s hyperbolic to say that lists of the civil population who complain about excessive force by police generally aren’t viewed favourably in history. It’s pretty scary stuff.”
The NSW police said an internal investigation has been launched into how the incident occurred but did not answer questions from Guardian Australia. Neither Leighton-Dore nor Bates have been contacted by the force.
“I haven’t heard from them at all,” Leighton-Dore said.
The incident raises questions about the handling of complaints internally by police, and the role of the police watchdog the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
Leighton-Dore initially lodged a complain with the LECC but was told in an email that the commission’s “limited resources means that it usually investigates only the more serious cases of misconduct and refers other complaints to the police”.
“The commission has decided that it is not a matter justifying investigation by the commission and accordingly the NSW police force is the appropriate agency to deal with this complaint,” the letter stated.
The LECC’s “limited resources” have been an ongoing problem for the organisation. In 2019 it revealed that continued cuts to its budget meant it was only able to fully investigate 2% of what it called a “firehose” of serious complaints levelled against officers.
And the role of police in conducting internal investigations has been the subject of continued criticism. Critics say investigations handled by the force’s professional standards command lack transparency, are frequently delayed, and often lack oversight.
In the case of complaints made after the use of capsicum spray at Central Station following the Black Lives Matter protest, both Leighton-Dore and Bates were concerned that an identical letter from the Professional Standards Unit was sent to all complainants with the same reference number.
“I would have assumed that in matters involving complaints to the NSW police that each complaint would have its own case number and be addressed individually, but it just seems like they’ve swept it all into the one bucket and just arbitrarily dismissed it,” Leighton-Dore said.
The victims of the leak are now being encouraged to contact both the LECC and the NSW information and privacy commissioner. A letter sent to the 155 people whose emails were compromised, seen by Guardian Australia, points to section 169A of the Police Act which “provides that a member of the NSW police force must not disclose to any person the identity of a complainant”.
“It is simply not enough for the NSW police force to say that this was an administrative error!” the letter states.
Bates said he would “absolutely” make a formal complaint about the leak.
“I’m going to rattle as many cages as I can,” he said. “I just think it’s crazy that this can happen and there be no consequence for it.”
