Hanson digs deeper

David Bywater is unimpressed his personal contact emails were sent out publicly by Hanson Constructions. 168672

By Bonny Burrows

Bunyip North Quarry protesters are bringing in the Privacy Commissioner after their personal contact details were emailed out for all to see.
On 14 February, the quarry’s project manager, Stephanie Salinas of Hanson Constructions, sent an email updating those on the community contact database about the project.
It is understood recipients were supposed to be blind copied into the email, however this did not occur.
The Mount Cannibal and District Preservation Group (MCDPG) has blasted the error as “a significant breach of personal privacy”, made worst by the fact the email was recalled multiple times, each still including the contact details.
“In a vain attempt to limit the damage from this significant breach of personal privacy for all concerned, Stephanie re-emailed everyone to recall the original mail out, but clumsily included the private names and e-mail addresses again,” MCDPG secretary David Bywater said.
“This happened up to four times before Ms Salinas gave up her haphazard attempts to cover up her error.”
Mr Bywater said not only was the error a breach of privacy, but a breach of trust.
“We gave our details under the full assurance by Hanson that they’d protect our privacy and identity,” Mr Bywater said.
“And some more mature aged people reluctantly provided their contact details, only for their trust to be thrown in their face.”
Upon realising the breach, Mr Bywater contacted the company asking for an explanation.
“The fact they have not responded personally demonstrates their repeated disregards for the individuals affected,” he said.
“I know it’s easy to make a mistake, but four times? These people are supposed to be the experts.”
MCDPG assistant secretary Lorris Jones said the company had promised that it would not repeat the errors tit made previously when they had made public the details of local residents on their web site some years ago in Queensland.
“However it seems that they are prone to making these basic and clumsy errors that cause great concern to the community,” she said.
“The multiple attempts to cover up the breach of privacy only served to make it worse because they included the names and e-mail addresses again which brought greater attention to the breach.”
A spokesperson for Hanson Constructions confirmed the breach was due to human error.
“The information involved the email addresses of those on the list but no other private detail,” the spokesperson said.
“As soon as we realised this error, we attempted to correct the issue by recalling the email in question, which was only partially successful.
“Hanson would like to apologise again to the community for this error. We will do all we can to ensure it does not happen again.”