Met Police apologises for data breach involving alleged Al Fayed victims

Metropolitan Police has issued an apology after a data breach exposed information linked to alleged victims of Mohamed Al Fayed. Brittan, a 61‑year‑old who first reported allegations to police in 2017, said she had previously been offered compensation for a separate information breach by the Met. She told the BBC that the latest leak was “precise shocking due to the fact that they were meant to person learned each lessons and it would ne’er hap again.” She added that, although the earlier incident was “acold much egregious due to the fact that it was precise delicate information that was sent to Australia,” she had been assured that lessons had been learned and that “the aforesaid happening couldn’t hap again.” Brittan warned that many of Al Fayed’s alleged victims would be distressed by the breach, stating: “For me, it’s much of the same, really, and profoundly re abusive, to be honest. It’s unbelievable.” Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, advocate for survivors of alleged maltreatment by Al Fayed, told the BBC: “I person had truthful galore contacts contiguous from survivors who person told maine that they consciousness violated by the constabulary successful a abstraction wherever determination is already a deficiency of assurance successful the constabulary investigation.” She noted that survivors had received “an insipid apology 5 hours aboriginal” and added, “I americium sorry, it is conscionable not bully enough.” According to correspondence previously supplied to the BBC, Brittan alleges she was sexually abused by Ahmed Obaidly, a former United Arab Emirates diplomat and subordinate of Al Fayed, after working for an institution linked to the UAE royal household in the early 1990s. The Met said the original report, made to Devon and Cornwall Police in 2017, was transferred to London because the alleged offending occurred within its jurisdiction. The case was initially investigated as a rape allegation against Obaidly, who died in 2015. The force also said allegations concerning Mohamed Al Fayed emerged in 2024 and now form part of Operation Cornpoppy, which remains ongoing. In a statement provided to the BBC, the Met said: “The unrecorded probe into those who could person facilitated oregon enabled Mohamed Al Fayed's offending continues.” It added that victim‑survivors remain a priority and that it is committed to providing updates to those involved in the investigation. The latest incident follows recent enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) against the Metropolitan Police for two unrelated data breaches. On 5 August the ICO published a determination issuing the force a reprimand and an enforcement notice after concluding it had failed to implement adequate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data. The ICO’s investigation found “serious and ongoing shortcomings” in data protection training and identified wider weaknesses in policies, procedures and safeguards for handling sensitive personal information. One breach involved an officer disclosing a stalking victim’s new address and telephone number to her alleged stalker. As part of its enforcement notice, the ICO ordered the Metropolitan Police to improve its data protection training compliance, monitoring and governance arrangements.