Sharp rise in data breaches on Island, says Information Commissioner's Office

Around 31,600 people thought to have been affected in 2025/26 year

There's been a sharp rise in data breaches and complaints on the Island, according to the Information Commissioner's Office.

It's just published its annual report for 2025/26.

In total, 200 personal data breaches were reported, which was up from 152 the previous year.

It's thought around 31,600 people were affected by those breaches, compared with 4,918 in 2024/25.

The increase has been put down to a rise in cyber incidents, which can affect large numbers of people in a single breach. 

The number of data protection complaints also doubled in the last year, going from 25 to 53, with handling of subject access requests the most common issue raised.

Information Commissioner Dr Alexandra Delaney-Bhattacharya said: "Data protection is fundamentally about people. Behind every breach is someone whose trust, privacy or safety may be compromised.

"We are seeing the scale of risk increase – cyber incidents can affect thousands of people at once, alongside new harms such as the misuse of people’s images through AI.

"A data breach can be life-altering for someone escaping a dangerous relationship. 

"For a child, the misuse of their image can cause lasting harm. 

"These are the realities that make our work so important."