The public officials of the Ministry of Transformation and the Public Service received, a few days ago, an email directly evoking the pension reform, in their personal mailbox. The CNIL immediately took up several complaints.
While it is being examined for the first time in the National Assembly by the deputies of the Social Affairs Committee this week, the highly contested pension reform is the instrument of a controversy linked to personal data and respect for the privacy, but not only! The National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL) has announced that it has investigated complaints concerning an electronic message sent to public officials by the Minister of Transformation and Public Service, Stanislas Guerini.
Many Internet users and civil servants shocked by government communication
The CNIL is carrying out checks around this email presenting to public officials the reform which concerns them directly, and this, in a burning social context, against a backdrop of demonstrations and opposition between unions and the government. Many people wish to have the opinion of the commission, worrying the compliance of this message with data protection rules “, when others addressed a complaint to the authority.
The famous email was sent directly from the address of the Directorate General of Public Finances, and bears the subject “Pension reform: Message from Stanislas Guerini to civil servants”. Here is the content of the message:
” Dear Public Officials,
A few days after the presentation of the pension reform, I wanted to speak to you directly to present the measures that concern you:
To view the video, click here.
You will find additional details on all the support measures for extending careers by clicking here.
All of your administrations will be able to answer any questions you may have about your personal situation in the coming days. “.
Several major issues have been raised by some Internet users and public officials. We give you here the elements which, in our opinion, will be closely studied by the CNIL:
- Some claim to have received this message on both their professional email address and their personal address.
- Others indicated that they had received the email even though they had objected to being contacted for any topical communication in their preferences.
- Several people also wrote that they had received the message when they had not worked for the public service for several years, which obviously raises the question of the retention period of personal information.
- Problem also concerning the sending through… the address of the Directorate General of Public Finances.
- How to also interpret this message from Stanislas Guerini, close to the President of the Republic who himself carries the reform?
The CNIL decided to shed light on the minister’s message
On Friday, the CNIL precisely indicated that it had ” immediately brought closer to the ministry “, specifying to have it” asked about the file(s) used to make this communication “. The authority is in the process of verifying whether the sending of the message has respected the general principles of protection of personal data, but also the specific rules applying around the creation of the file or files concerned.
The CNIL, which promises to take a position, must check whether the sending of this email was in accordance with the purposes of the file which was used.
Source : CNIL
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