Workers' personal information published by Scottish council
By David Howells
19/10/2011
Dumfries and Galloway has been left red-faced after it emerged that a spreadsheet containing staff salaries was available online for two months.
The spreadsheet, containing staff names, salaries and dates of birth was available online for anyone to see from 21 March to 1 June this year, containing information for both past and present employees. There were a total of 887 people listed on the spreadsheet, h-online.com reports.
The announcement is not only embarrassing for Dumfries and Galloway Council but could also land them in legal trouble, breaching as it does the Data Protection Act, meaning that the council may now look to IT management software in a bid to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again.
It is thought that the erroneous publication was due to a mistaken response to a Freedom of Information request handed to the council but was removed following a complaint from a trade union.
Speaking to BBC News, assistant information commissioner for Scotland Ken Macdonald explained: "Being open about council pay is a fundamental way that citizens can hold local authorities to account, but that should never be at the expense of upholding individuals' privacy rights.
"Procedures clearly went wrong in this case and I'm pleased that the council is reviewing its practices in light of the lessons that have been learned."
