SNP CHIEFS FACE NEW ROW OVER SALMOND PROBE
Data law questions over internal investigation
A high- ranking SNP official may have broken data laws during the party’s internal Alex Salmond probe.
The senior figure obtained personal details of female former Scottish Government workers as par t of it s interna l investigation, it has been claimed. Ex- Holy rood staff who worked with Salmond were approached and asked about their relationship with the former f irst minister, sources say. But there are claims the SNP broke ethical standards and data laws by contacting them with the unsolicited messages. None of those contacted are bel ieved to have been party members. An insider said:
“There’s big questions over whether senior people within the SNP overstepped the mark on this. How did they get the details of the Scottish Government workers in the first place? “As well as being unethical, accessing their contact details may have been illegal.
“These were not SNP members so they had no reason to have their details.”
Human rights lawyer Aidan O’Neill QC said: “The basic principle is that personal data which identified an individual – that would include names and addresses – is confidential and cannot be used without the consent of that individual unless the law makes specific provision allowing for such use even in the absence of consent.”
Salmond was last month cleared of sexually assaulting nine women while he was first minister. A jury found the former SNP leader not guilty on 12 of the sexual assault charges while another was found not proven.
A further charge of sexually assaulting a 10th woman had already been dropped by prosecutors.
Salmond denied al l the charges against him during the two-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
His legal team had wanted to include texts from a mobile phone at the centre of the alleged data breach as part of their defence.
But judges Lady Dorrian and Lady Stacey ruled the text messages – believed to be in the thousands – were not relevant to the case.
The contents of some of the messages only came to light after the trial finished.
At a hearing in January, Salmond’s lawyer Gordon Jackson QC argued that the Scottish Government had orchestrated the criminal prosecution to “discredit” him. A spoke sma n for the Information Commissioner’s Off ice said: “Organisations must be clear from the outset why they ’ re col lect ing personal data, what they intend to do with it and who they’re going to share it with.
“They also need to ensure the original purpose for using people’s p information is respected and have a lawful basis for using it.”
Salmond did not respond to our request for comment. A parliamentary inquiry will now look into how the Scottish Government handled sexual harassment claims made against Salmond. It is to be chaired by Nationalist MSP Linda Fabiani.
Last week, the committee wrote to Nicola Sturgeon ordering her and staff not to destroy any text messages they sent about the case.
The SNP said: “All questions will be addressed as part of the parliamentary inquiry.”