Milly Dowler officer removed over NoW leak complaint

[dipsydoodle]

Surrey Police removed an officer from the inquiry into Milly Dowler's murder after claims information was leaked to the News of the World, it has emerged.

The force has confirmed a detective was taken off the case after a complaint he had mishandled confidential data.

>

Surrey Police said the officer received "words of advice" over the complaint.

It said it had no evidence that the detective constable had passed any information to the News of the World, but that he had spoken about aspects of the investigation to a retired police officer friend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-14266147

Sounds like there was some networking going on. Maybe this is part of the background to these issues. Notwithstanding moral issues retired police wouldn't be subject to the Data Protection Act etc which may be used in connection with charges on this subject and similar issues.

[fedsron2us]

1. The truth is much of the NOTW information was probably not 'hacked' at all.

It was obtained from corrupt insiders who had access to supposedly confidential information held on police computers. This illegal trade in private data that was originally obtained legitimately by the police, government departments and corporations is the biggest issue here. I wonder how far into this murky world the public enquiry into this scandal will venture. When is leaking data legitimate and if so what and by whom. If your and my personal data is not secure and protected then maybe there is an argument for opening up some IT systems so they are transparent to everyone. After all why should the state be the only one that knows who earns and owns what.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Yes - "hacked" has become too convenient a handle

for some to latch on to.