The British government has apologised after accidentally sharing the email address of one of the world’s richest men in the run-up to a major global investment summit hosted by the UK.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) referred itself to the UK's data protection watchdog over the error, but the PA news agency has been told no further action will be taken.
Officials had sent an email about the investment summit next week without using blind carbon copy, meaning the contact details of several business leaders including Bernard Arnault were displayed to other recipients.
Mr Arnault, a French tycoon who founded and owns the luxury goods firm LVMH, has an estimated net worth of €167 billion and is currently ranked as the world’s fifth-richest person by Forbes.
He is one of around 300 industry leaders invited to attend the UK’s International Investment Summit in London next Monday, where British ministers will pitch the country as a more attractive destination for business.
The DBT said the blunder, first reported by The Sun newspaper, had been reported to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
A spokesperson said: “This was caused by an administrative human error, and we apologise to those affected.
“We take data protection very seriously, and we have referred this issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office.”
However, the ICO said it had closed the case after giving data protection advice to the department.
A spokesperson for the watchdog said: “We received a report from the Department for Business and Trade after an email was sent without using blind carbon copy.
“After reviewing the information provided, we provided data protection advice and closed the case with no further action.”
