The Metropolitan Police has apologised after email addresses belonging to alleged victims of Mohamed Al Fayed were shared in a data breach. The error is significant because it may have exposed the identities of people connected to sensitive allegations, raising concerns about privacy and confidence in the police response.

The breach involved victims’ email addresses being disclosed to others, although the article text provided does not state how many people were affected or how the disclosure occurred. Mohamed Al Fayed, the former Harrods owner who died in 2023, has been accused by numerous women of sexual assault and rape; he denied wrongdoing during his lifetime.