Councillor spreadsheet bungle shares private details of 800 residents

A Queensland local councillor has apologised for leaking the personal details of nearly 850 ratepayers in a bungled email invitation.

Redland City Councillor Tracey Huges has apologised for sharing the information of more than 800 residents. PICTURE: File/Darren England.

A REDLAND City councillor has apologised for leaking the information of more than 800 constituents in a bungled email invitation to a party.

Redland City Councillor Tracey Huges (division 8) mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet with the personal details of 841 people to a list of those she had planned to invite to a New Year’s Eve event at her home.

Cr Huges said she was “distressed” by the mixup.

“On sending out a NYE (New Year’s Eve) invite, I inadvertently attached my contact list, not the invitation,” she said in a statement.

“I collated my contact list from residents contacting me personally seeking assistance with an issue and I stored the list to ensure I was able to follow up and advocate for them.

“I am deeply distressed and sincerely apologise to all residents.”

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A Redland City Council spokeswoman said while the email was sent from Cr Huges’ private email account about a private event, they still contacted those whose details had been shared.

The spokeswoman said the incident had also been reported to relevant authorities.

“Council has reported a matter relating to Cr Tracey Huges to two State Government agencies – the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) and the Office of the independent Assessor (OIA),” the spokeswoman said.

“Council contacted both the OIC and OIA on 9 December 2019 – the same day it became aware of the alleged privacy breach by Cr Huges – and reported the matter officially over the following days.

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“On 9 December 2019 council received advice from a resident who received from Cr Huges an email that also attached a spreadsheet with personal information relating to 841 individuals.

“While the email was sent by Cr Huges independently of council and for private reasons, council has still notified all residents whose details were included in the spreadsheet.

“Since the incident, council has counselled Cr Huges on privacy obligations and also has reminded all councillors of the same.

“Council will implement further privacy training to all councillors and the topic will feature heavily in council’s induction program for the new Council in 2020.”

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