This story has been updated to include additional response from the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland in the final two paragraphs.
The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has been accused of unlawfully accessing and sharing personal data during an investigation into a charity.
The CCNI said today that the charity's trustees had taken a decision to access phone records at the Disabled Police Officers Association of Northern Ireland, but denied wrongdoing.
The regulator opened the inquiry into DPOANI in February 2014 over concerns about governance and financial controls at the charity. The findings of the investigation led to the suspension of Hampton and four trustees last year. But those suspensions are currently being challenged and the case is still pending.
A report by the Belfast Telegraph this morning said “thousands” of phone messages and emails were accessed and used as part of an inquiry by the CCNI into the workings of the police charity.
And a person involved with the investigation today told Civil Society News that personal text messages that “had nothing to do with the case” were “shared far and wide”.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was not involved with the charity, other than as "a friend", but that text messages between him and chief executive Elaine Hampton had surfaced during the CCNI investigation.
He said the text messages were personal and mostly unrelated to the investigation but were shared as part of the case.
“It seems to me the texts were used unlawfully,” he told Civil Society News.
“It is usually notoriously hard to get information – you have to get all sorts of warrants and you have to go through a judge and all sorts of things. The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland didn’t use that. It got together with the charity and conspired to go through all the text messages.
“These text messages had nothing to do with the tribunal. I have nothing to do with the charity - I am just a friend [of Elaine Hampton]. But they took my private and confidential text messages and distributed them far and wide.”
He said the actions of CCNI felt like “pure and simple victimisation”.
The Belfast Telegraph this morning said “thousands” of phone messages and emails were accessed, and that these included more than 5,000 texts and emails sent by retired police officers and members of the Northern Ireland Assembly that were “shared and retained” by CCNI.
The newspaper said that the Attorney General and the Police Ombudsman were both "embroiled in the case" after complaints were made about the legality of the regulator’s access to the information – including the possible breach of surveillance laws and data protection.
'Secure and lawful'
A spokeswoman for CCNI told Civil Society News the regulator "absolutely refutes" allegations that it "encouraged, facilitated or tolerated illegal activity as part of its investigatory work".
She said: "The charity’s trustees took a decision to access records held on the charity’s equipment (work phones and computers). This information was lawfully accessed by the charity and was essential for the administration of the charity. The charity was the legal owner of the information."
According to the regulator, all information "was treated securely and lawfully" and provided by the charity to "support the Commission in taking action to protect the charity, its assets and its vulnerable beneficiaries".
"The Commission is a statutory body with the appropriate security clearance to process and hold sensitive data," the spokeswoman said.
"The Commission absolutely refutes any allegations that it has encouraged, facilitated or tolerated illegal activity or victimisation.
"In reference to information heard in the charity tribunal regarding the Disabled Police Officers Association of Northern Ireland (DPOANI), the Commission presented relevant information to the tribunal as evidence that suggested a co-ordinated campaign was taking place to disrupt the work of the Commission. This evidence included text messages but did not include any personal details."
