Pensions: email from the minister received in the boxes of the officials, FO seizes the Cnil

Several public service unions, including the CGT, FO and Unsa, denounced this Friday the sending of an email to the personal address of “all” public officials to defend the controversial pension reform project.

The email, sent by the General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFIP), consists of a message from the Minister of Transformation and Public Function Stanislas Guerini to the agents.

It contains a link to a six-minute video where he presents the reform measures, particularly those relating to civil servants.

“In the video, Stanislas Guerini speaks directly to the officers and explains the reform as if it had already been approved as it is in parliament,” Céline Verzeletti, co-general secretary of the federal union of state unions CGT, told AFP.

The Cnil will take position “later”

The email was sent to the private address that the agents “provide for your tax return” and not to “your business address,” according to the Unsa public service.

For the Force Ouvrière (FO) confederation, the Ministry of Civil Service has “diverted the purpose” of using citizens’ email addresses for “political propaganda” purposes.

FO declares to have “immediately” taken over the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL) to “enforce the protection of personal data of all agents”.

The privacy watchdog said it is doing some checking. “At this stage of the investigation, the CNIL is not yet in a position to comment on the compliance of the use of personal data that has been made. It will take a position later,” he said in a statement.

Contacted by Tech&Co, the ministry categorically defends itself from any illegal action contrary to the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD).

“It’s not a novelty”

“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.

The ministry assured AFP that “no contact files have been (made) transmitted” between the DGFIP, which has the email addresses communicated by public officials (professional and/or personal) for information on payroll in particular, and the ministry.