SA cops caught out snooping

South Australian police officers have been caught snooping on records and selling confidential information.

SA Police chief Grant Stevens says several breaches over the past few years have also included officers inappropriately accessing their ex-partners' and one high-profile individual's criminal records.

He also says some officers have breached protocol for benign reasons such as checking whether their car was registered and accessing their licence number.

But Mr Stevens says snooping is not a widespread issue in the force and that officers who are caught face being punished, sacked or prosecuted.

Privacy has become a high-profile issue after 13 health workers, including doctors and nurses, were found to have snooped on Cy Walsh's medical records after he was charged with the stabbing death of his father last year, SA Health said.

Another six clinicians were disciplined, and two were sacked, for inappropriately accessing other patients' information over the past 12 months.