Computer hack cop Wong cheats disciplinary rap after court

By Paul Thornton

A COP who illegally used a high-powered police database to fish for intelligence on people she knew has been fined after first quitting her job.

Anna Wong, 26, used the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) to look-up police information on dozens of members of the Chinese community who were being looked into by officers.

Bosses at Lothian and Borders Police were tipped off that she had been looking into two people who she was friendly with and her activity was audited.

GONE: Wong quit after lengthy suspension

She was suspended on full pay and later charged with 54 offences in respect of the Data Protection Act and admitted 28 of them.

Wong – originally from Hong Kong – has now resigned from the force after more than 18 months on paid leave.

Dodge

Today at Edinburgh Sheriff Court she was fined £1,000, but it emerged she will dodge a professional misconduct hearing.

Fiscal depute Neil Almond told the court how Wong had been recruited by the Edinburgh force in 2005 and was told during basic training that access to the database was only to help specific police enquiries.

Wong also completed a 45 minute online course on the restrictions regarding the search tool before being given access to it although she claims there were “grey areas” over accepted use.

Lothian and Borders Police say they are now supervising the courses and carrying out training at offices to ensure officers understand the rules fully.

Mr Almond said a year after Wong joined the force other officers were tipped-off that she had been abusing the system.

Serving police officer Anna Wong guilty of data crime

By Paul Thornton

A POLICEWOMAN is facing a fine of up to £5,000 after she illegally accessed people’s data using a police computer.

Anna Wong, 26, was suspended by Lothian and Borders Police after they caught her using intelligence databases to look-up people she knew.

SHAMED: Anna Wong

Wong – originally from Hong Kong – used the Scottish Intelligence Database and the Lothian and Borders Operational Support System to obtain personal details of a number of Chinese people living in Scotland.

The officer was suspended after it emerged Wong was accessing the details at the capital’s St Leonards Police Station between March 2006 and June 2007.

Charged

Wong was charged with 54 breaches of the Data Protection Act and later admitted 28 of the charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

She insists she did not pass the information on to anyone else but could face a maximum £5,000 fine.

Fiscal depute Beverley Adam said Wong had been at level nine on the scale of access privileges within the force – the lowest rating with access to the information – when she used the databases.

Her solicitor, David O’Hagan, said Wong had begun tapping into the database to look-up outstanding cases against two people she knew. However, Mr O’Hagan said, because of the difficulties in recording Chinese names on the computers, Wong simply entered “Chinese” as a search term and began accessing others in the Chinese community to investigate possible links.

Edinburgh based police officer faces PC court rap

by PAUL THORNTON

A policewoman  has admitted illegally accessing information about people from computer databases at the station where she worked.

Anna Wong, 26, was suspended by Lothian and Borders Police after it emerged she had looked up personal data on people while working at St Leonards Police Station between March 2006 and June 2007.

She used the Scottish Intelligence Database and the Lothian and Borders Operational Support System to obtain personal details of a number of Chinese people living in Scotland.

Charged

Miss Wong was charged with 54 breaches of the Data Protection Act and is facing a disciplinary hearing by bosses at Lothian and Borders force.

And yesterday (Friday) at Edinburgh Sheriff Court she admitted 27 of the charges, while Crown Office officials dropped the remaining allegations.

Cop on data protection rap

By Paul ThorntonA POLICEWOMAN has been charged with illegally accessing personal data using the cops’ own information system.

Anna Wong, 26, faces 54 charges in breach of the Data Protection Act and has been suspended from duty by Lothian and Borders Police.

It is alleged she used the Scottish Intelligence Database and the Lothian and Borders Operational Support System to obtain personal details of several individuals.

Illegal access is said to have occurred at St Leonards Police Station in Edinburgh between March 2006 and June 2007.

Miss Wong, who lives in Edinburgh, was due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to answer the charges.

But she was not present and fiscal depute Mina Poppius told the court her solicitor had sent the court a letter asking for more time to consider the charges.

Miss Poppius said: “There has been correspondence received from the solicitors and they do know about the date but have not provided any further instructions.

“The matter is raised against a suspended officer.”

Sheriff Kenneth Hogg continued the case without plead and Miss Poppius is due to appear next month.

Lothian and Borders Police declined to comment on the case.