Pension reform still does not pass, in the private sector as in the public service. However, the government has not spared its efforts to highlight what it considers to be its advantages.
In an email dated January 26, 2023, more than 2 million civil service agents received an email signed by Stanislas Guerin, the Minister of Transformation and Public Service. In this email, a link to a video promoting the reform described as “a project of justice, balance and progress.”
The government is violating its own decree
The reception of the agents was cool: 1600 complaints filed with the CNIL. For the government, the sanction is a reminder of the law. Because for its political communication, it used a file, ENSAP, not intended for this purpose.
The file is governed by Decree No. 2022-1446 of November 21, 2022 and which reports to the Minister responsible for the Economy. Its function is well defined. It constitutes an exchange and communication tool allowing agents to access specific documents, such as their pay slips.
A sanction for using an administrative file for political communication purposes
Agents access this information by providing an email address. These contact details were not intended to be used for other purposes. Yet this is what the ministry did, contravening the decree.
For the CNIL, the file “cannot be used for communication of a political nature.” However, the video transmitted by the government falls into this category and not a communication between the agent and the administration.
Political communication not authorized by the file
“The minister’s video message aimed to convince people of the merits of the pension reform project, which had not yet been voted on,” further underlines the restricted formation of the CNIL. The ministries in question therefore used personal data “in a manner incompatible with the objective of this file.”
The ministries of the civil service and the economy are therefore being called to order, the first for sending the political message, the second as manager of the ENSAP file.
The progress and justice enabled by pension reform remain to be demonstrated. What is more obvious is the need for awareness of the use of personal data by political staff.