Acting on a complaint received from a Ministerial staff, the UK Information Commissioner’s office has started an investigation that deals with the fact on whether some or all the UK ministers are using personal email accounts while conducting government businesses.
Elizabeth Denham, the data protection commissioner of Britain, has confirmed the news and assured that more details will be brought to light after the conclusion of the official probe.
Coming to the investigation, digital evidence was found by the data watchdog that some of the UK Ministers including Matt Hancock and Lord Bethel holding health ministry were seen using email accounts of their own for discussing government contracts that were to be completed with the help of public money.
Downing Street claims that both the said ministers along with some others occasionally used their department email addresses to conduct government operations that were unlawful and might have already led to future controversies.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson cleared the air that he doesn’t want to comment on this issue and allow the world to know how he indulges in UK Governance.
Cabinet Office in collaboration with the data watchdog conducted a probe and discovered that Matt Hancock and Lord Bethel were in a practice of using personal email IDs to analyze or approve government contracts and many of them emerged from their unofficial inboxes.
Hancock and Mr. Johnson were seen using the WhatsApp app for official communication, thus leading the case to a sheer case of disobedience.
Note 1- Under normal circumstances, all the Ministers and their staff are only allowed to use their official email accounts to conduct government business/operations- all because of the concerns of espionage & eavesdropping. And all countries follow the practice across the world, irrespective of the fact that they are following democratic or republic policies.
Note 2- Using other message apps for official communication rather than those recommended might lead to data leak troubles. And the best example is the suspected play of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s in launching a WhatsApp-based spying campaign on the Amazon Boss Jeff Bezos phone in 2018 that led to the leak of the photos that confirmed the affair of Mr. Bezos with his pilot girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.
Hence, are the Ministers listening..?
The post UK Ministers under probe for using personal emails for government projects appeared first on Cybersecurity Insiders.
June 29, 2021 at 10:34AM
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