Church of England 'profoundly concerned' over abuse survivors data breach

The Church of England

The Church of England has said it is "profoundly concerned" after a data breach disclosed the emails of abuse survivors. 

Kennedys Law LLP, which administers the independent abuse Redress Scheme on behalf of the Church of England, apologised for the breach this week. 

In a statement, the law firm said that a message had been from Kennedys on Tuesday to 194 individuals and law firms who had registered to receive updates in relation to the Church of England Redress Scheme. 

Only the email addresses were visible and no other personal details of the individuals were shared, the law firm said. 

It attributed the mistake to "human error" and added that it has reported the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Church of England said the breach was "deeply regrettable" and that it was in discussions with Kennedys to understand how it occurred and "ensure robust steps are taken to prevent anything similar from happening again". 

"First and foremost, our focus is on those affected. We recognise the distress this has caused, particularly for survivors who trusted the scheme to handle their information with care and confidentiality," the Church of England said.

It added, "This should not have happened. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and support efforts to restore trust and confidence."

The Bishop of Winchester, Philip Mounstephen, former Chair of the Church of England's Redress Scheme, expressed his "deep sorrow" over the breach in a letter to survivors.

"Survivors deserve and should receive the utmost care, confidentiality, and respect," he said.

"On behalf of the Church, I want to say clearly: there can be no excuses for this failure. We know that this has negatively affected people and trust has been damaged, and we grieve that this has happened." 

Support is available to people affected by the breach at Safe Spaces or by emailing redress@churchofengland.org 

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