The chief executive of the Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has said the organisation “sincerely apologises” for a data breach which occurred in March 2024.
The incident related to the personal information of 265 individuals, including 63 commercial and public entities, released as part of a freedom of information request.
However, the data breach did not come to light for more than a year and a half when AFBI received a media inquiry about the information in October 2025. Speaking to Stormont’s agriculture committee last Thursday, Dr Stanley McDowell said the data mainly related to laboratory test results for salmonella.
“Salmonella isolations occur in a range of animal species so that in itself is not particularly newsworthy,” he said.
When the data breach was discovered, AFBI issued letters to the affected farmers and organisations explaining the incident.
MLAs were told that a helpline for affected individuals received 57 calls, with most queries about who received the information and whether any financial data included.
“We were able to confirm that no banking or any financial data had been shared,” said Jenni Burrows from AFBI.
Incident
However, Stanley McDowell indicated that some individuals have sent legal correspondence to AFBI following the incident.
“We are obviously following legal advice in relation to letters which have been sent into us,” he said.
McDowell said AFBI also wrote to the recipient of the information asking them to delete the data which had been issued in error. He said this was later followed up with a letter from AFBI’s legal representatives, but no response has been received to date.
“Unfortunately, when we only have an email address there’s limitations in terms of further steps that can be undertaken,” he said.
Investigation
MLAs were told an independent investigation found the incident “was primarily the result of human error” and was not related to “deficiencies in the design or absence of controls”.
McDowell explained information for the freedom of information request had been extracted from a laboratory database and put on a spreadsheet. He said information had been redacted “due to the application of filters” but AFBI staff did not realise that the spreadsheet still contained personal data.
Under freedom of information laws, individuals can ask public bodies for access to certain records, such as reports and minutes of meetings.
McDowell said AFBI has reviewed all 74 freedom of information requests which it has received over the past four years to ensure no other data breaches have occurred.
“We did feel it was important that there was also an independent check by our internal auditors to give reassurance on it,” he said.
AFBI Red Tractor audit after whistleblower photos
AFBI invited inspectors from Red Tractor quality assurance to audit its dairy unit in Hillsborough, Co Down after images from the farm were shared online.
The chair of the NI Assembly’s agriculture committee, Robbie Butler, raised the issue with senior representatives from AFBI at a meeting in Stormont last week.
“There potentially could have been environmental infringements and animal welfare issues,” Butler said.
AFBI chief executive Dr Stanley McDowell said the auditors found “a number of minor non-compliances” which have since been rectified and the farm remains Red Tractor accredited.
“The photographs were of concern. I fully recognise that. But this is a large commercial farm in many respects.
“There are 300 dairy cows and a series of livestock following up. Injuries can happen to livestock. They happen in every farm,” he said.
McDowell also said that images of a slurry tanker operating on the AFBI farm during the closed period for slurry spreading was not in breach of regulations.
“That was investigated by ourselves and was also checked by the NI Environment Agency,” he said. “It was dirty water and we were perfectly within their permitted rules for spreading.”
The chief executive of the Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has said the organisation “sincerely apologises” for a data breach which occurred in March 2024.
The incident related to the personal information of 265 individuals, including 63 commercial and public entities, released as part of a freedom of information request.
However, the data breach did not come to light for more than a year and a half when AFBI received a media inquiry about the information in October 2025. Speaking to Stormont’s agriculture committee last Thursday, Dr Stanley McDowell said the data mainly related to laboratory test results for salmonella.
“Salmonella isolations occur in a range of animal species so that in itself is not particularly newsworthy,” he said.
When the data breach was discovered, AFBI issued letters to the affected farmers and organisations explaining the incident.
MLAs were told that a helpline for affected individuals received 57 calls, with most queries about who received the information and whether any financial data included.
“We were able to confirm that no banking or any financial data had been shared,” said Jenni Burrows from AFBI.
Incident
However, Stanley McDowell indicated that some individuals have sent legal correspondence to AFBI following the incident.
“We are obviously following legal advice in relation to letters which have been sent into us,” he said.
McDowell said AFBI also wrote to the recipient of the information asking them to delete the data which had been issued in error. He said this was later followed up with a letter from AFBI’s legal representatives, but no response has been received to date.
“Unfortunately, when we only have an email address there’s limitations in terms of further steps that can be undertaken,” he said.
Investigation
MLAs were told an independent investigation found the incident “was primarily the result of human error” and was not related to “deficiencies in the design or absence of controls”.
McDowell explained information for the freedom of information request had been extracted from a laboratory database and put on a spreadsheet. He said information had been redacted “due to the application of filters” but AFBI staff did not realise that the spreadsheet still contained personal data.
Under freedom of information laws, individuals can ask public bodies for access to certain records, such as reports and minutes of meetings.
McDowell said AFBI has reviewed all 74 freedom of information requests which it has received over the past four years to ensure no other data breaches have occurred.
“We did feel it was important that there was also an independent check by our internal auditors to give reassurance on it,” he said.
AFBI Red Tractor audit after whistleblower photos
AFBI invited inspectors from Red Tractor quality assurance to audit its dairy unit in Hillsborough, Co Down after images from the farm were shared online.
The chair of the NI Assembly’s agriculture committee, Robbie Butler, raised the issue with senior representatives from AFBI at a meeting in Stormont last week.
“There potentially could have been environmental infringements and animal welfare issues,” Butler said.
AFBI chief executive Dr Stanley McDowell said the auditors found “a number of minor non-compliances” which have since been rectified and the farm remains Red Tractor accredited.
“The photographs were of concern. I fully recognise that. But this is a large commercial farm in many respects.
“There are 300 dairy cows and a series of livestock following up. Injuries can happen to livestock. They happen in every farm,” he said.
McDowell also said that images of a slurry tanker operating on the AFBI farm during the closed period for slurry spreading was not in breach of regulations.
“That was investigated by ourselves and was also checked by the NI Environment Agency,” he said. “It was dirty water and we were perfectly within their permitted rules for spreading.”
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