Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202300349243
Date received: 28 March 2023
Date responded: 13 April 2023
Request
Your page here https://www.mygov.scot/contact-social-security-scotland lists a number of means of contact. It doesn't have an email. Please provide an email. Please also provide documentation, emails etc. related to why the email was not included on that page. Do you plan to include an email if not why?
Response
Thank you for your request.
It’s important that people can contact us easily, and as such Social Security Scotland provides multiple secure methods of communication with clients on their benefit applications, which are listed on the website you have linked.
This includes the ability to apply online for benefits and also our web chat service, which allows clients to communicate using text similarly to email.
The security of personal data is one of our highest priorities. Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, Social Security Scotland has a duty to implement appropriate measures to protect the personal information we receive. Taking into account the sensitivity of the personal information which may be exchanged between us and our clients, we have assessed that email is not a sufficiently secure method of communication for this purpose. As such, no email address is provided on the website.
At this time there are no specific plans to review this, however we are continually assessing our communication channels and looking to make appropriate improvements where possible.
About FOI
Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing responses to requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.