Norfolk's police force has been hit by another scandal after an investigation found it had shared victims' sensitive data with Facebook.
The Observer has claimed data collected about people using Norfolk Constabulary's website to report sexual offences, domestic abuse and other crimes were then passed to the social media giant.
The information, which included the type of offence reported as well as a user's Facebook profile code, was sent via a tracking tool called a Meta pixel being used on the force's website.
The data was sent despite the online form for victims and witnesses to report offences apparently being “secure”, according to the Observer report.
The embedded tracking tool also sent details to Facebook about content viewed and buttons clicked on webpages linked to contacting police, accessing victim services as well as advice pages for crimes including rape, assaults, stalking and fraud.
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Dame Vera Baird, the former victims’ commissioner, told the newspaper: “You think you are dealing with a public authority you can trust and in fact you are dealing with Facebook and the wild world of advertising.”
The analysis also found that Suffolk Constabulary were also embroiled in the scandal.
In a joint statement, Norfolk and Suffolk Police said they had been using the tracking tools “for recruitment purposes”.
A spokesman said: “However, recognising the wider implications, we have taken immediate steps … to remove the relevant Meta Pixel."
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A spokesman for Meta, which operates Facebook, said: “We’ve been clear in our policies that advertisers should not send sensitive information about people through our Business Tools.
“Doing so is against our policies and we educate advertisers on properly setting up Business Tools to prevent this from occurring. Our system is designed to filter out potentially sensitive data it is able to detect.”
It is the latest scandal for the county's police force following revelations a serving police officer escaped criminal charges after a hit-and-run by claiming he was suffering from transient global amnesia.
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