Covert Surveillance of
People First Councillor
Like all
Carmarthenshire County Counillors I was routinely issued with a
council laptop and email address on being elected. The purpose
appeared to be so I could use it for communications related my
council work. However, it is now clear to me that anything I wrote ,
received or sent from this account could be and some were, accessed
by council officers without informing me or the other recipients
whose privacy was deliberately violated.
A couple of weeks ago I
was shown a document which Carmarthenshire County Council had
released under a document search to someone else. The “Attendence
Note Form” showed that the Council's IT security officer, had read
and logged my emails in September 2011. The “name of client” was
blank.
In many councils the
elected members “run the show” and as an opposition councillor, I
should , if t this was the case, suspect one of my senior elected
colleagues in the ruling group of instructing an officer to snoop on
me. However, Carmarthenshire appears to be an officer run council.
Senior elected councillors with titles and extra salaries, which in
other authorities indicate decision making power, show little sign of
actually being in charge.
And what is the email
so serious that it has to be monitored by the administration? Some of
you will remember that our Chief Executive Officer, Mark James CBE,
posted a statement on a blog criticising another blogger's attempts
to get our major council meetings filmed. After this he emailed the
same statement to all councillors. I replied to him, disagreeing with
his statement. Someone in 2011 had to find out who had received
copies of my negative reply.
The answer was I copied
my reply to Mr James to quite a lot of people, all of my fellow
councillors, an assembly member, a local town councillor and the
blogger herself. Who was so desperate to know that that they invaded
my privacy without giving me notice or reason?
Although I have
submitted a Data Protection Act request to find out how often and by
whom my council emails are read and monitored by my supposed
employees, the Carmarthenshire local government civil servants there
is as yet no reply. The report form applied only to one email but I
would be surprised if it were the only email monitored and also if I
was the only Carmarthenshire councillor snooped on.
There are various
reasons why employers can legally read your emails, Why were my
theoretical employees reading mine? As a council employee I would be
informed if my emails were legally monitored but as their employer
they have no right to pry. Also, the privacy of those who contact me
and whom I contact is clearly being compromised by my own officers.
I've asked our monitoring officer to explain to me how and why this
can happen?
Local councillors are
the first tier of democracy, elected by the people in the hope they
will truly represent the people. People First Councillors accept
Bell's Principles and therefore value consultation with constituents
as much as is possible and practical and a secure “councillor email
account” is required by all councillors. No email is ever
completely secure but emails to councillors should surely have some
privilege and not be secretly opened and read by the staff?
Our senior local
government civil servants in Wales are paid by us to hold positions
of trust in our councils. In Carmarthenshire we pay them more than
anywhere else in Wales. I expect a very full explanation of what
has been going on and why?
Councillor Sian Caiach
People First
