University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield suffers possible data protection violation

Hatfield’s University of Hertfordshire is investigating following a possible violation of data protection.

Around 2,000 students had their names and email address shared in an attachment when they were invited to a guest lecture by email, according to the BBC.

The university, after realising the error, referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office and is conducting an internal investigation.

A spokesperson told the Welwyn Hatfield Times the university takes data protection seriously, and added: "The email was not sent to all students and the incident affected a group of students in one of our schools of study.

"The relevant students were contacted immediately and the email was recalled.

"We are contacting all affected students with information and advice."

The ICO, who is the watchdog responsible for data protection, said it "will be assessing the information provided".