THE PSNI is investigating the loss of a notebook that contained details of 42 officers and staff in yet another data breach.
Both the notebook and a laptop belonging to an officer fell from a moving vehicle on Thursday.
The laptop and portions of the notebook have since been recovered.
The incident follows two recent data breaches involving the PSNI, the most serious of which saw details of all serving officers and staff published online.
Laptop deactivated
On Saturday, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said 42 officers affected by the loss of the notebook had been made aware of the incident.
"Police are continuing to investigate the loss of an officer's laptop and notebook," he said.
"It is believed the material fell from a moving vehicle on the foreshore stretch of the M2 motorway, on Thursday 17th August around 4.15pm.
"The laptop was immediately deactivated and has since been recovered. No personnel files were involved.
"A significant amount of the notebook has since been recovered.
"Some sections remain outstanding and our enquiries are continuing to establish the contents.
"It was confirmed that some of the outstanding pages, which contained details of some officers and staff, have not yet been recovered.
“We have contacted those involved to make them aware.
“42 officers and staff have been specifically identified as being affected and directly contacted by line managers and senior management.
"In addition, the entire Branch affected has been informed about the circumstances of the incident.
"We are liaising with the Office of the Information Commissioner and have advised the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Department of Justice."
Data breach arrests
In the first data breach on August 8, a spreadsheet was uploaded to a legitimate Freedom of Information (FoI) website following a routine FoI request.
However, the document, which was available to view for three hours, inadvertently included the surname, initials, rank/grade, role and location of all serving officers and staff.
A day later, police revealed details of a second data breach from July, in which documents, a police issue laptop and radio were stolen from a private vehicle in Co. Antrim.
Two men have so far been arrested in connection with the major data breach.
Following a search in Lurgan on Wednesday, a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of collection of information likely to be useful to terrorists.
On Friday, a 50-year-old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act following a search in Dungiven.
