The most important part of the phrase "Secret Service" should be the word "secret". So if someone with no specialised IT knowledge manages to put together a list of 80 people working for the Srel, this raises questions.
What's even more trouble, however, is when this person alerts the secret service and politicians of this fact and receives next to no reaction. It might be extreme to call this a new "Srel affair", but it is a baffling story all the same.
The public servant in question, who was interested in a new challenge, had applied for three jobs at the secret service via the GovJobs site. To increase his chances of getting the position, he decided to "find everything publicly accessible about the Srel" and was able to put together the list of employees, which included some protected names as well as one external member of staff. The man assured us he had no intention of releasing the list, but had kept it up his sleeve for a potential interview. After sleeping on it, however, he realised the sensitive nature of this data and decided to email the head of Srel Doris Woltz and another official.
The latter called the man back and asked him for details about his list. After being read a few names, he seemed agitated and suggested the list should be destroyed. The public servant replied he had wanted to alert them of this info being freely available, and at the same time enquired about his job application. He was told he would be contacted by a certain date, but he never heard back. After this date had passed, the official stated that this man would not work for the Srel as long as he was employed there.
This isn't the end of the story, however: there is a political angle, too.
The public servant stressed that he had not wanted this to become political, but he felt the problem must be addressed.
At some point, the man had alerted PM Xavier Bettel of these facts, but had heard nothing back. This caused him to talk to Paul Konsbrück, chief of cabinet for the Secretary of State, and with three members of parliament - one from a majority party and one from the opposition. After his conversation with Paul Konsbrück, he had received a rejection for one of the three jobs, but not for the others.
The next meeting of the secret service control commission in Parliament on 20 November might shed more light on the matter. The man still remains keen to work for the Srel and stresses that he was never treated badly, but also never heard a word of thanks for his information and is somewhat dismayed at how his story developed. The list of names he now keeps in a safe.
