Merete Fjeld Brattested calls the Norwegian Data Inspectorate far-fetched when they accuse the Embassy of sending out unwanted e-mails to registered Norwegians in Thailand, reports Aftenposten.
The Foreign Ministry of Norway offers to warn Norwegians abroad when there is crises in the country where there are. The Ministry offers the service to keep updated on where Norwegian citizens are and to give Norwegians the needed information.
But according to the Data Inspectorate in Norway the contact information have been misused in least one instance when the Norwegian Embassy in Thailand sent out a questionnaire from The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service to all registered Norwegians in the country including those who had opted for only getting information from the embassy when he/she did register on the Embassy website.
“It is good that Norwegians can get in contact with the Embassy. But one thing is a tsunami warning, information from other state agencies is a another issue. We think that it is a big mess,” says Mari Hersoug Nedberg, advisor in the juridical department in the Data Inspectorate.
The Norwegian Ambassador in Thailand disagrees with the Data Inspectorate and replies as follows:
“Regarding if the questionnaire from The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service is violating the purpose of the registration of Norwegians abroad, I see the question as far-fetched,” writes Ambassador Merete Fjeld Brattested in a letter to the Data Inspectorate.
Read the full story in Aftenposten:
