Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/03/zen_bnp_list/
Business ISP blunders on BNP list
Google Maps mashup rides again
Posted in Telecoms, 3rd December 2008 12:57 GMT
Free whitepaper – Assuring application service quality
Zen Internet has apologised for including a link in its latest newsletter to a website hosting a "find your nearest BNP member" search box.
The business ISP sent its members the newsletter yesterday with a link to a Google maps mashup which allowed you to search for the nearest BNP member to a specific postcode. Although not as bad as linking to the whole list, the blunder was a likely breach of data protection law.
The list of 11,000 BNP members was leaked two weeks ago [1]. It almost brought down Wikileaks, one of several places hosting it.
At its peak Wikileaks was seeing 70 hits a second for the list. Party leader Nick Griffin blamed ex-staff for deliberately leaking the spreadsheet.
Dyfed-Powys Police are investigating the data breach, and Merseyside Police are investigating allegations that a serving officer is on the list - police are specifically banned from joining the organisation.
A Zen spokeswoman said it was sorry for the blunder and had removed the links from its website. ®