Welsh police sacked for breaking data protection laws
Police officers and staff across the four Welsh forces broke the Data Protection Act 62 times at work during the past two years.
BBC Wales has discovered that four people were sacked and 14 resigned as a result of the breaches.
They included checks on partners, relatives and associates, altering their own records, and passing data to third parties.
Dr Tim Brain, an honorary senior research fellow at Cardiff University and a former chief constable of Gloucestershire Police, said many staff have unrestricted access to data.
He told Peter Johnson of BBC Radio Wales they needed to be aware of the risks they face from using it without reason.
14 Feb 2013