Copenhagen Municipality has started informing residents whose personal information in the Civil Registration System (CPR) may have been accessed without authorization by a former municipal employee. This action follows the public disclosure of the case on Wednesday and the subsequent reporting of the data breach to the Data Protection Authority.

The police’s National Unit for Special Crime (NSK) has arrested a 27-year-old man, previously employed by the municipality, on suspicion of illegally accessing the data of 1,742 citizens in the CPR registry.

The suspect also faces charges of complicity in extortion, allegedly obtaining and sharing CPR numbers and addresses of 66 individuals on Telegram and Signal. Furthermore, he is accused of complicity in an attempted murder that occurred in Herning last year, allegedly sharing information about the intended victim.

Following a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the suspect was remanded in custody. The judge has issued a name ban, prohibiting the publication of any information that could lead to his identification. Due to the hearing being held behind closed doors, details of the police evidence and the suspect’s statements remain undisclosed.