Civil service agents receive a video of their minister praising the pension reform in their personal email

The agents of public services, and in particular of the General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFIP), received a video message from Stanislas Guerini, Minister of Transformation and Public Function, to promote the pension reform decided by the government.

Problem, if everyone received it in their professional mail last week, others also received it in their personal mail on January 26, which did not fail to provoke the anger of the agents opposed to this reform. On Twitter, some have also warned that they would file a complaint with the CNIL, the French personal data police.

In fact, if it is the address of the DGFIP that is at the origin of the email, the title and the signature of the latter directly evoke the ministry directed by Stanislas Guerini.

The Ministry Strikes Back

Contacted by Tech&Co, the ministry categorically defends itself from any illegal action contrary to the general data protection regulations (RGPD). “Agents can transmit their professional or personal address to the DGFIP to receive information on pensions or remuneration, as described in the data use conditions,” says one of the minister’s entourage. “Furthermore, in no case did the DGFIP transmit its contact file to the ministry.”

The ministry specifies that these messages sent to personal emails are not new since Amélie de Montchalin – Stanislas Guerini’s predecessor between May 2020 and July 2022 – had already used this method. With the difference that she was in charge during the pandemic where the continuity of the public service had to be ensured.

Message too political?

“The response of the ministry is a bit risky” judge for his part the lawyer in digital law Alexandre Archambault, interviewed by Tech&Co. “It is not because one agrees to transmit their data that consent is worth everything and anything.”

“If it really were in operational terms or to ensure the continuity of the public service, it could be understood, but here we are more of a political issue and one that the DGFIP is not dealing with,” the lawyer estimates. And this also applies to both personal emails and professional emails.