THE Scottish Government has issued an apology after it inadvertently revealed the identities of more than 100 civil servants negotiating severance packages for themselves.
An e-mail sent to employees to update them on the government's early retirement and voluntary severance process displayed the e-mail addresses of all their colleagues who were receiving the same information.
As soon as the mistake was realised officials tried to retrieve the e-mail, but it was too late to stop the details being circulated. Up to 300 staff are due to leave the government before June under the latest severance scheme and by the end of the year around 700 are expected to have gone.
The government stressed that no financial details of the packages on offer to individuals had been revealed. However, one recipient of the e-mail, who asked not to be named, branded the data breach an "intolerable violation".
He said: "The human resources department immediately tried to withdraw this extensively disseminated open communication conveying all of these addresses, followed by a general 'apology'. "But the fact remains that everyone in this programme can now readily identify the majority of others, even if they desired to keep this private for any personal reason. "I have been given the e-mail contact details, most with identifiable names, of over 100 civil servants involved in what are clearly personal issues.
"My other concern is that my own private home e-mail address has been sent to all these individuals."
The letter sent to all those involved, signed by Elinor Mitchell, deputy director for human resources, read: "I am writing to apologise for the fact that you were on a shared copy list for a generic letter which should have been sent to you individually.
"HR staff immediately recognised that letters were issued in error and attempts were made to remedy the situation at the time. "Please be assured that we are taking this incident seriously and I have already taken steps to ensure that all HR staff are aware of their responsibilities when dealing with personal information. "I have also sought advice from colleagues in our Office of Security and Information Assurance to help ensure that a similar incident does not happen again. "I regret any distress that this may have caused you and apologise once more for our error." A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "No personal information was disclosed and an apology has been issued." She said the mistake had been down to human error.
