ONE PERSON has been suspended and an investigation is ongoing after hundreds of Afghans had their data leaked in an email blunder.
Ben Wallace, Defence Secretary, apologised for the error, which happened last night and said he was angered by the incident.
Speaking in the Commons today, Mr Wallace said the mistake was unacceptable, and confirmed it was a member of the MoD staff who had sent the email.
READ MORE: MoD accused of criminal negligence after Afghan interpreters data leaked
However, he said, it should not be the responsibility of that one person to shoulder all the blame for the leak.
He explained: "Initial findings show that an email was sent at 1744 hours as part of the weekly contact we maintain with ARAP currently remaining in Afghanistan.
"This was copied to all applicants, rather than blind copying them.
"The email was immediately recalled on identification of the breach, and then a subsequent email was sent advising people to delete the email and change their addresses, many of whom have done.
"So far one individual has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and processes for data handling and correspondence processing have already been changed."
He added: "The individual concerned was a member of the Ministry of Defence, but I'm very keen that it is not just the poor person who draughts the email that is held to account. It is the chain upwards, to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
SNP MP Carol Monaghan asked the defence secretary whether his department were considering adopting a different management system, to ensure the mistake does not happen again.
She said: " Pretty much every MP uses a caseworker management system - a piece of simple software that costs a few hundred pounds per year, which ensures that mistakes of this nature cannot happen.
"Is [he] looking at using similar, and if not, why not?"
Mr Wallace confirmed he was looking at such options.
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