Council under investigation by data regulator for Hill breach

SHETLAND Islands Council is under investigation for a data breach which put over 100 people’s names and addresses in the hands of campaigner Stuart Hill.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) confirmed it had received a report in relation to the breach, and added it was assessing the information provided.

The council said on Friday it would be reporting itself to the ICO, which is the UK’s data regulator.

“The ICO’s responsibility is then to decide if the council did enough to prevent the breach in the first place,” the council added in a statement.

Hill gained access to the names and addresses of 130 people who were in council tax debt last year.

He sent letters to them all last Tuesday, informing them he had come into possession of a list of people served with a summary warrant in July 2024 because of money they owed Shetland Islands Council.

The sovereignty campaigner claimed that there were sitting councillors on the list and said a data breach had allowed him to come into possession of the information.

In his letter, Hill said it was “a measure of the data security at the Shetland Islands Council” that he had been able to access the information.

He said the SIC has “absolutely no authority” to charge council tax and invited people to join the Sovereign Nation of Shetland.

Shetland Islands Council has so far refused to comment on how Hill came into possession of the information.

It refused to comment earlier this week when asked once more.

The SIC confirmed the data breach last Friday, and said it had not come as a result of a cyber attack or a phishing exercise.

The council has since contacted everyone affected by the breach.