The Malta Union of Teachers’ has filed a report with the Police Commissioner and the Data Protection Commissioner over a suspected leak of their members’ database to the Labour Party.

At the moment, all we have is a suspicion

The union acted after complaints were made by some members who received Labour promotional material at home.

They suspected their details had been leaked because the address they received the material on was not the same as that on their ID card or on other official records but the one they gave the MUT.

Earlier this week, Labour got a slap on the wrist from the Data Protection Commissioner for breaching privacy laws when it e-mailed three separate individuals – including Alternattiva Demokratika’s Arnold Cassola – without their express consent.

MUT president Kevin Bonello confirmed that a complaint had been made.

“We took legal advice the minute we received the complaints and filed a police report a day later,” he said. He also said the union carried out an internal investigation.

“I would rather if this story was written after the police concluded their investigation because, at the moment, all we have is a suspicion.

“All I can say at the moment is, according to our own investigations, there is nothing to suggest that the present staff and administration could be involved in such a leak and hacking has been excluded.”

Data Protection Commissioner Joseph Ebejer confirmed he had a meeting with the union and that a complaint had been filed but said the investigation was still ongoing.

Questions sent to the Labour Party and to the police about the matter remained unanswered at the time of writing.

mmicallef@timesofmalta.com