The Church of England is facing fresh criticism after the personal details of hundreds of clerical abuse survivors were shared in a major data breach.
The unredacted names and email addresses of almost 200 people who registered for the Church’s new abuse compensation scheme were shared in a mass email on Tuesday evening.
Abuse survivors - who were promised their details would be protected - reacted with fury and said the revelation further damages their faith in the Church.
The CofE described the data breach as ‘deeply regrettable’ and said it ‘should not have happened’ but sought to distance itself from the incident.
The Church held a crisis meeting with Kennedys Law - which is administering the redress scheme - and said the law firm had accepted ‘full responsibility for the incident’.
