Hillary Clinton did the. Hugo de Jonge also did it, as did Jaap van Dissel. They used their own email address to send confidential work information, reported de Volkskrant† Nothing human is alien to a minister or an OMT member. In a job that keeps you busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is sometimes ‘inconvenient’ to log in to the work email, De Jonges said. declaration for its iCloud usage. Van Dissel found Gmail easier than the RIVMmail† There you have to log in with name, password, pin code and temporary code. What a hassle, you hear him growl.
Ministers are expected to use telephones and computers with secure internet and email facilities, it reports Handbook for Ministers† The use of Gmail, iCloud or WhatsApp is not prohibited, but is ‘strongly discouraged’. It’s more insecure – greater risk of hackers and leaks – and it’s more difficult to verify who knew what, at what time, and from whom.
And it hurts. The people who came up with the basic rules to control corona do not wish to adhere to the digital basic rules. They e-mail without a mask.
Behind those private e-mails is more than convenience. With the smartphone and the introduction of the 4G network (in the Netherlands since 2013), accessibility is the norm – even outside the office and outside office hours. The corona pandemic will then break down the last barriers between work and private life. Also with the government. In March 2020, 175,000 civil servants will move to their home offices. The Court of Audit notes in Nov 2020 that that goes wrong; 16 percent of civil servants use private email to send confidential job-related information, 7 percent also use WhatsApp for that. In addition to the official WebEx service Rijksvideo, they also make video calls with WhatsApp Video, Zoom and FaceTime.
The reason that civil servants use their own apps: the official resources of the government are insufficient, the working agreements are clumsy or unclear. For example, you can use WhatsApp with one government service and not with another.
If officials send files via iCloud, Gmail, Dropbox or WeTransfer, the overview disappears. Masses of government documents float around in personal mailboxes and storage services. The collective memory is ‘demented’, notes the Government Information and Heritage Inspectorate†
The information system is such a chaos that you can no longer control the power. The Court of Audit writes: “It is not possible to be fully accountable within a ministry, to inspectorates, to the media and parliament.” Public access to government is crumbling, with every private e-mail.
High time for some ICT English. On bring your own device (choose the telephone that you use for work) we were already used to. came through corona bring your own software and bring your own cloud there. The only way to control this sprawl is to recreate barriers between work and private life.
You can build those thresholds yourself, by using a second telephone number, a second device or a second mail program. But it starts with an employer providing good collaboration software so employees don’t fall for the convenience of their own apps.
A clear ban on the use of private email for ministers would also help. turn into that manual “seriously advised against” in “don’t, Hugo”. How hard can it be?
Incidentally, citizens also assume that politicians use their private e-mail for work. For example, I sometimes receive mail intended for SP MP Maarten Hijink. He’s not related, but he is someone I apparently share almost the same Gmail address with. So do the undersigned and Maarten Hijink a favor and email him from now on at his @tweedekamer.nl address.
Marc Hijink writes about technology here Twitter: @MarcHijinkNRC
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of April 20, 2022