Criticism of the Municipal Executive Committee in Hudiksvall Municipality for failing to promptly inform an individual that his email had been blocked in the municipality’s email system

Summary of the decision: An individual requested access to official documents but after a considerable time had still not received a response. The municipality’s email system had blocked the email containing the request without notifying either the sender or the municipality. The email was blocked because it was sent from a server without the proper configuration.

While the Parliamentary Ombudsman recognises that a public authority may need to take certain measures to protect itself from cyberattack, it is not acceptable that, to all intents and purposes, a blocked email disappears without anyone being notified of it. The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that, to fulfil both its obligations concerning the right to access official documents and its service obligation, the authority must ensure that the sender is promptly notified that internal security measures have prevented or significantly delayed their email from reaching its intended recipient. The Municipal Executive Committee is criticised accordingly.