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Over 300 email addresses erroneously sent out in Isle of Wight Council gaffe

www.countypress.co.uk • October 15, 2026

Hundreds of Islanders had their email addresses leaked after an error by the Isle of Wight Council - the second time this year it has happened.

A total of 314 email addresses were shared in a message to thank poll clerks for their work during the 2026 local council elections.

However, instead of being included in the blind carbon copy (Bcc) field, the addresses were entered into the 'To' field, meaning everyone on the thread could see the other recipients.

In a follow-up email, where affected recipients were Bcc'd, the staff member apologised to people on the mailing list and confirmed the incident had been reported internally.

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The staff member wrote: "I sincerely apologise for this oversight. I am mightily embarrassed needless to say that I managed to make such a silly mistake."

The email stated there was currently 'no evidence' of data misuse, but urged recipients to not email addresses from the message.

The breach is the second blunder by the council this year, after 445 email addresses were exposed in a message to customers interested in garden waste subscription renewal.

An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said today: "We have established processes and guidance in place for handling personal data, and staff are regularly reminded of these.

"On this occasion, the issue arose due to human error rather than a failure of systems or process.

"We continue to reinforce good practice and review our procedures, but unfortunately, isolated mistakes of this nature can occasionally occur.

"The incident involved email addresses and was reported and handled in line with our data protection procedures, and those affected contacted as soon as the error was identified."

The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Isle of Wight Council Data Breach Exposes Children's Personal Information A phishing attack compromised an Isle of Wight Council email account, potentially exposing children's personal information, including names and dates of birth. The council reported that addresses may have been exposed in a small number of cases. Families have been advised to remain vigilant for unusual requests for personal information. The attack originated from a phishing email sent by a trusted supplier whose systems were previously compromised. The council stated that the intruder accessed a single mailbox for a very short period, and while no evidence of data misuse has been found, they cannot guarantee that information was not downloaded or shared. The council has notified the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and implemented additional security measures. The exact timing of the phishing attack remains undisclosed. 2 sources 40

Extracted Entities

Over 300 email addresses erroneously sent out in Isle of Wight Council gaffe

The full story

Extracted Entities

Attack Types (1)

Companies (1)

CWE Weaknesses (1)