Labour controled Wigan Council hack 3 Cllrs emails!

It is well known that the Council are obsessed with getting opposition Cllrs that they don't like. Today I have learnt that the Council have been following me and also hacking into 3 Cllrs emails, no prizes for guessing that no doubt I will be one of those.

Below is a letter from the Council confirming what I am saying. What you will be surprised at is the Council say they don't know who ordered the hacking. They don't know when and how many times they were hacked. For me this is lies because if they were doing this as part of an investigation, which they try and say, then they would make sure they got all the legality's correct. That would include getting legal advice on whether it is legal or not and if so what they have to do to keep within the law. A number of those things is who gave the order, correct record keeping is kept on all the details of the hacking and the cases. If they genuinely don't know then it proves that they are incompetent and are not fir for purpose and sackings must take place.

I have now written to the Leader of the Council and called for an immediate investigation to get to the bottom of this matter and all the facts are disclosed. I have also demanded to know if I am, as I suspect, one of those emails that were hacked. It is worrying not just for me but for residents that elected me because like a couple found out earlier this year when they emailed me it was taken before it got to me and put into a holding area to be read before I got it. In fact, in that case I only got the email when the couple challenged me on why I had not responded and then I asked the Council why had I not got the email. After that investigation it was confirmed by the Council that they had intercepted it and with held it from me.

This is a serious matter and in my view, illegal, and I will be reporting the matter to the Police and I will be setting up a secure email address that the Council does not hold control off so that if you email me you know it will be kept secret and not read by others, especially if it is a sensitive case, like the ones I have been dealing with this year.

Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 5:51 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Requests - ID 5335

I am writing to respond to your freedom of information request   This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The response to your request is detailed below.
Examination of how the Council maintained network and supported devices are utilised is periodically performed by Internal Audit to assess all staff and members compliance with the Council's Acceptable Use of ICT and IT Security policies. This includes appropriate examination of logs in relation to network security, internet, emails and text messages. Authorisation to perform these functions is contained within the Constitution. Where any suspected irregularities are identified then further detailed investigations are conducted and reported accordingly. Internal Audit activities are reported 6 monthly to the Audit, Governance and Improvement Review Committee and also in the Council's statutory disclosure document.
In addition to these planned reviews, ad hoc investigations are also performed where there is suspected misuse of Council provided IT based services that could lead to disciplinary action against officers and/or Members and/or referral to the Police for prosecution where appropriate.
As outlined in your request I can provide the following information.
Access to specific members records was as follows:
2012/13 - 2 members
2013/14 - 1 additional member
The reason for access to all records was due to investigations.
There is no record maintained of the exact dates and number of times records are accessed as all occasions would have been required for the purpose of the investigations.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior officer will review this decision. Please let me know if you would like to arrange this.You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the regulator for Freedom of Information. His website is www.informationcommisioner.gov.uk and his helpline number is 0303 1231113.
His staff may ask you to exhaust our internal complaints procedure if you choose to complain to his office now.
May I take this opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding to your request, this is due to the high volumes currently being received.

Yours Sincerely


Data Protection and Freedom of Information OfficerResources Directorate
Legal & Risk
Wigan Council
Town Hall
Wigan
WN1 1YN