Elton John arrives on stage for his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
Elton John was just one of more than 1,000 recipients of this year’s New Year Honours to have their address published in error.
For 90 minutes, the private details of 1,097 people were made public before it was taken down, The Guardian reported.
From celebrities to government officials, sport stars and lawmakers, there home and office address were posted online.
What happened and who did it impact?
Some of those affected included John, cricketer Ben Stokes, NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens and politician Iain Duncan Smith.
Others included Jonathan Jones, the permanent secretary of the government’s legal department, and Cabinet Office permanent secretary John Manzoni.
A member of the public spotted the star-studded spreadsheet had been disclosed, which, considering that senior and rank-and-file Ministry of Defence staff’s address were on there, will likely be considered a major security breach.
The spreadsheet was available for a time on the government’s website which, according to the broadsheet, was thought to have gone online at 10:30pm on December 27.
It was thought that the sheet was taken down in the early hours of Saturday.
While a small number of Ministry staff had their address redacted, the vast bulk had door numbers and street names posted.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson issued and apology for the error and noted it had reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
“A version of the New Year honours 2020 list was published in error which contained recipients’ addresses,” the spokesperson said.
“The information was removed as soon as possible. We apologise to all those affected and are looking into how this happened.
“We have reported the matter to the ICO and are contacting all those affected directly.”
‘2019 has turned out to be a truly wonderful year for me and I feel extraordinarily blessed,’ says Elton John.
John saw his knighthood get an upgrade this year, crowning an incredible decade for the pop star.
Being appointed to the Order of the Companion of Honour for a glittery career spanning five decades after only recently reflecting on his disbelief over his life aged 72.
“I’m humbled and honoured to be among such highly esteemed company in receiving the Companion of Honour,” he wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
“2019 has turned out to be a truly wonderful year for me and I feel extraordinarily blessed.”
I’m humbled and honoured to be among such highly esteemed company in receiving the Companion of Honour.
2019 has turned out to be a truly wonderful year for me and I feel extraordinarily blessed.
Elton xx pic.twitter.com/iam3EItGYH
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) December 27, 2019
The Order of the Companion of Honour is an elite group of Britain’s most notable figures within the arts, science, and political scenes.