In an increasingly digital world, the importance of data should not be underestimated. And that is highlighted by South Yorkshire Police’s admission that it has lost body-worn video camera footage which could be used as evidence in dozens of cases.

The force said 69 cases may be affected by the “unexplained reduction in data stored on its systems”, as it can no longer access the footage which was recorded by officers between July 2020 and May 2023.

It is not known how the data loss occurred and digital forensics specialists have been called in to establish the cause and to see if the data can be recovered.

South Yorkshire Police is right to apologise for this data loss with the Information Commissioner's Office now also aware of the incident.

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “There may be implications for victims and witnesses and the wider criminal justice system as some of this footage may be evidence in upcoming court cases”.

The data loss does not reflect well on South Yorkshire Police and it could undermine confidence in the force.

As Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, says “there may be implications for victims and witnesses and the wider criminal justice system as some of this footage may be evidence in upcoming court cases”.

However, now that this has happened, it must be as proactive as it can in trying to, if possible, recover the lost data and more importantly understand what went wrong and why. Only then can the force start to put in place measures to avoid a repeat of similar incidents in the future. This should be a wake up call for all police forces up and down the country when it comes to data security with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) also being hit with a major data breach.

South Yorkshire Police data loss highlights need for a more robust approach - The Yorkshire Post says