Email error sees London borough mistakenly circulate names and addresses of 45,000 residents

Wandsworth Council has said it is "seeking advice from the relevant data authorities" and is prepared to act on any guidance they provide, after 45,000 emails to voters notifying them of their polling station were sent to the wrong email address.

In a statement published yesterday (17 March), the council said: "We'd first of all like to apologise to those people who have mistakenly received this information and can confirm we are investigating this matter to make sure it cannot happen again.

"We would like to reassure residents that the information contained in these emails is all publicly available in the borough's electoral register, which is an open document that can be inspected by any member of the public at any time during the year. The emails did not contain any other information beyond what is already in the public domain."

Responding to the council's statement on Twitter, one resident posted a screenshot of a later email sent by the council apologising for the mistake and requesting the resident delete the initial email.

It read: "We are writing to apologise once more for you being sent information in error in an earlier email today, which we'd be grateful if you would now delete.

"We understand that you may be concerned to have received someone else's details. Please note that if you have previously chosen to opt out of the 'open' electoral register you cannot opt out of the public register and so all of the information you were sent is available on that public register."

In a tweet, Cllr Simon Hogg, Leader of Wandsworth Labour, said the council told him that 45,000 emails with personal information were sent to the wrong address.

He said: "This is obviously unacceptable. The council is writing to all the people affected to apologise."

Adam Carey