ONE of the country’s top policing figures has said he visited an adultery website out of an interest in data protection issues.

Kenneth Hogg, who starts as the Scottish Police Authority’s interim chief officer tomorrow, also said he paid the Ashley Madison website a one-off fee after being informed his contact details had been “captured” by his online browsing.

He added: "I have never used the service provided by Ashley Madison, nor any services provided by any companies akin to it.”

Ashley Madison – whose slogan was ‘Life is Short. Have an Affair’ – was an online dating website for married people who wished to cheat on a spouse.

It was run by Canadian firm Avid Life Media and claimed to have nearly 40 million users across the globe.

Potential cheaters could pay for credits for the purpose of sending messages and taking part in chat sessions.

However, the site nosedived in July 2015 after hackers stole over 9.7 gigabytes of data, including information on customers, and dumped the details online.

A series of figures in the public eye, including in the worlds of politics and the media, denied ever signing up after their personal data appeared on the site.

On Friday, the Sunday Herald contacted the SPA, which is the national oversight body for Police Scotland, after it emerged Hogg’s data was part of the Ashley Madison leak.

An entry included a personal email address in his name, as well as his Edinburgh postcode and the last four digits of a credit card. One payment of around $15 was made with the card in April 2015.

In a statement, Hogg explained: "I looked at the company's website when it became an international news story. I had never heard of the company until that time and looked at its website out of interest in data protection issues.

"The website told me that my contact details had been captured by my visit, and it offered me the option to have that data deleted from the website for the payment of a small one-off fee. I paid that fee at that time."

He added: "That is the only reason that any financial details pertaining to me could be held by the website and I have never made any other payments to this website for any other purpose, nor to any other site of a similar nature. This was my only interaction with that website and that company.

"I was not aware that these various elements of personal data were accessible within hacked data that is in the public domain, and I have taken appropriate steps to further protect and secure my personal information."

A source close to Hogg said media coverage of the website led to him going online. Two weeks before his transaction, Ashley Madison generated reams of publicity by announcing plans to raise £135m from investors.

Hogg is a career civil servant who is joining the embattled SPA on a twelve-month secondment, for which he will be paid up to £110,000.

He has been the Scottish Government’s Director of Local Government and Communities since 2013, prior to which he was Director for Safer Communities.

An Edinburgh University graduate, he has also held senior policy roles in health and transport, such as when he was Head of Rail at the Scottish Executive between 2002 and 2005.

Policing sources believe he is a solid appointment at a time when the SPA, which has been rocked by the resignations of its chair and managing director, needs stability.

Graeme Pearson, the former head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said of the Hogg statement: “I accept his explanation. It’s a great example of folk in positions of power having to be very careful about their access to websites, even for research purposes. This should always be done through your own organisation, rather than on a personal computer.”