Serious breach of data suspected as Tower Hamlets residents receive dozens of unsolicited political emails
Recipients of the unwanted newsletters sent before and after the general election are worried about how their email addresses were obtained by the sender.
Several residents of Tower Hamlets have been added without consent to an online mailing list that disseminates anti-Israel, anti-Labour and pro-Workers Party of Britain content.
The sender, who goes by the name ‘Mirriam Sadique’, has operated at least five Substacks newsletters called ‘Muslims Today’, ‘East London Updates’, ‘East London’, ‘London Today’, and ‘Tower Hamlets Today’ in the past few weeks. Most have been deleted but ‘Muslims Today’ was active as of yesterday.
The unsolicited emails began in the lead-up to the general election and promoted George Galloway, the leader of the Workers Party of Britain (WPB).
Metadata on the newsletters indicates that they have been sent to more than 11,000 people. A mailing list of this size would suggest the data was obtained from a sizeable organisation.
Unlawfully obtaining data is a crime. Section 170 (1) of The Data Protection Act 2018 criminalises knowingly or recklessly obtaining personal data without consent and could incur a maximum sentence of an unlimited fine.
The newsletters are all political in nature. One email sent on July 1 was entitled ‘Tower Hamlets Will Reject Labour Party, Predicts East London Mosque Imam’, and went on to promote the WBP.
Another, sent on 3 July, entitled ‘4 reasons Tower Hamlets will Reject Labour’ included a visual comparison placing Galloway alongside the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer with the Israeli flag behind him. Beneath Galloway, it read: ‘Permanent ceasefire now’, ‘Abolish tuition fees’, ‘Introduce rent controls’, and ‘Keep NHS free’. Beneath Starmer, it read: ‘“Israel does have that right”’, ‘Tuition fees will stay’, ‘No rent control’, and ‘Deport Bangladeshis’.
That same newsletter included a promotional campaign poster of Kamran Khan, the WPB parliamentary candidate who stood in Poplar and Limehouse. ‘Tower Hamlets needs MPs that are against wars and genocide,’ the poster read. ‘Is the party of Tony Blair and Keir Starmer against wars and genocide?’
More recently, a newsletter entitled ‘Pro-Israel Rabbi Ponders Whether God Is an Antisemite’ was sent out by ‘London Today’ on July 9, mocking American rabbi and author Shmuley Boteach.
One Tower Hamlets resident, who’d prefer to remain anonymous, received two unsolicited emails in the run-up to the election, including the one sent on July 3.
She said: ‘I did receive a couple from Substack that appear to have now been deleted. I found one in particular quite offensive – mostly the image using the Star of David.
‘The newsletter attached also mischaracterised Labour’s position on multiple issues (healthcare, immigration and housing),’ she added.
Matt Hewitt, from Bow, has also been receiving emails he didn’t sign up for, including ‘4 reasons Tower Hamlets will Reject Labour’ and an anti-Israel newsletter about IDF soldiers on June 30. He’s on the Tower Hamlets Council’s mailing list and receives the Save our Safer Streets (SOSS) newsletter but didn’t sign up for Mirriam Sadique’s newsletters.
He said: ‘What I object to is two-fold – firstly that I was added to this mailing list without my permission.
‘And secondly that they felt the need to dress up very partisan electoral attacks as “East London Updates” or “Tower Hamlets Today”. I think whoever published these pieces was trying to mislead people into thinking that this was journalism by a hyperlocal publisher… rather than political material, basically propaganda.’
Ken Manson has received at least eight unsolicited emails, some as recently as 14 July. He’s signed up to other local mailing lists like Peabody but never signed up to Mirriam Sadique’s Substack newsletters. He said the themes of the newsletters have been ‘into-Labour party, anti-Israel and pro-Rahman’.
‘It’s concerning when your personal information is shared without your consent,’ he added. These aren’t emails that I’ve signed up for, and considering they’re pushing a specific political agenda, it’s quite concerning that people are accessing a contact that they have no right to.’
‘Anyone with concerns about how their email address may have been obtained and used by organisations can contact the ICO on 0303 123 1113.’
You can make a complaint to the ICO here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
If you, or anyone you know, has received an unsolicited email of this nature, please contact us here.
The WPB were contacted for comment.
For more local news from your postcode, read Pro-Palestine protesters evicted from Queen Mary University of London following High Court possession order
Yes I’ve been receiving them and I definitely didn’t sign up for them. Politically they are very much not my bag! They’re wildly antisemitic and offensive. I was shocked when I read them. Disgusting and a clear GDPR breach as I haven’t signed up for them. Whoever is behind them needs prosecuting.
where’s the evidence ? this seems like fake news. less than 5 people saying they received unwanted emails is hardly breach.
i receive a hundred different spam emails every day.
Thank you for writing the story. I have received the unsolicited emails. Who do I complain to for the breach of data protection from the council?
Hi Serena,
You can contact the ICO here: 0303 123 1113
Or email Tower Hamlets Council’s data protection officer here: DPO@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Please also reach out to us here: https://romanroadlondon.com/contact/ so we can continue to gather testimonies.
Thank you!