LONDON (Dow Jones)–A database containing contact details of tens of thousands of employees of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) was passed to non-governmental organizations critical of the company and environmental groups that have targeted it in past protests, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The database contains contact details, including mobile phone numbers and home postcodes, for every Shell employee, workers at the company’s joint ventures and some contractors. It isn’t clear if the groups will take any action with the data they received, the people told Dow Jones Newswires.
Shell wasn’t immediately able to comment. “We are investigating and are raising this theft of information with the relevant data protection authorities…if you receive any nuisance telephone calls or emails then please contact your line manager, HR or security,” wrote Shell’s Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Richard Wiseman, in an internal Shell memorandum posted on the Web site of John Donovan, a blogger critical of the company.
According to emails seen by Dow Jones, the leaked data could also compromise the personal safety of Shell workers. It includes the details of employees in dangerous locations like Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where Shell workers have been kidnapped.
“Some of the information is sensitive from the security point of view and in some cases personal safety could be compromised by its publication,” Wiseman wrote in an email to Donovan, whose blog www.royaldutchshellplc.com also received a copy of the data, but has decided not to publish it.
According to another email seen by Dow Jones Newswires, the data was leaked by a group of Shell employees in the U.K., the U.S. and the Netherlands who believe the company is abusing the environment and human rights in Nigeria. Shell has recently finished a major restructuring program during which many employees had to re-apply for their own jobs and 5,000 people were made redundant. Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser said there will be another 1,000 job cuts this year aimed at cutting costs by $1 billion and improving profitability.
