Capita's pension portal exposes civil servants' private data

What happened

It has been reported that Capita briefly exposed the personal data of civil servants via its Civil Service Pensions Scheme member portal. The vendor says the incident lasted "for around 35 minutes" on March 30 and, it has been reported that, 138 members either received Annual Benefit Statements belonging to others or had their personal ABS data seen by other members. Capita immediately suspended ABS functionality on the portal and opened an investigation; affected members were told the company had notified them.

Reaction and accountability

The Cabinet Office said it is taking the breach "extremely seriously" and will consider further action as required, while the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed it had received a report and is assessing the information provided. The Public and Commercial Services Union called the episode a "fiasco" and said members’ names and addresses were exposed, adding that the slip-up undermines confidence in pension administration. Capita declined to expand on its statement when asked for further comment.

Context and consequences

This is another stumble for a portal that only launched in December 2025 after Capita won a £239 million contract in 2023. Users have faced login failures, errors and long backlogs since day one; it has been reported that the system inherited an estimated 86,000 outstanding cases and supports 1.5 million current and former civil servants. Microsoft tools and extra civil‑service staff have been drafted in to help clear queues, but unions warn of delayed payouts — about 8,500 newly retired civil servants, they say — and roughly 20,000 outstanding pension quotes. Who do you trust with something as intimate as your pension details? For many affected members, trust may already be the real casualty here.

Sources: The Register