Horsham Conservative Association '˜did not comply' with data protection obligations

Following an investigation by the Information Commissioner it has been found that Horsham Conservative Association did not comply with GDPR regulations.
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The investigation was started after John Bromley, a former member of the association, filed a complaint when he received a circular email detailing his and 272 other members email addresses, despite having cancelled his membership months before.

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said: “Following an investigation, we found that Horsham Conservative Association did not comply with its data protection obligations.

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“We have provided guidance to them, including how to take extra care and attention when sending emails.”

The chairman of the association, Tricia Youtan who is district councillor for Itchingfield, Slinfold and Warnham, and Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing at Horsham District council sent an apology email following the original leak.

The apology, which has been seen by the County Times, said: “I wish to send my sincere apologies for the email previously sent regarding ‘Opportunity’ which has detailed all members’ email addresses.

“This was a clerical error and we will ensure all future emails are sent in the correct way to comply with GDPR.”

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The ICO spokesman added: “Although we will take no further action in relation to this complaint, we keep a record of all the complaints raised with us about the way an organisation processes personal information.

“The information we gather from complaints may form the basis for action in the future where appropriate.”

A spokesman for the Horsham Conservative Association said: “We received a response from the ICO two weeks ago, case closed as they found no serious problem and just asked that we follow GDPR to avoid repetition.”