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02/17/2021

Faceless PR Flunkey for Norwegian Salmon Giant Seeks Removal of Photo & Emails with Information Commissioner

 



 

Yesterday (16 February 2021), Scottish Salmon Watch received the following complaint filed by Lesley Rice (Head of Communications at Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms) with the Information Commissioner's Office:

 

From: ICO Casework <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 4:11 PM
Subject: ICO Case Reference: IC-73593-C8T4
To: Don Staniford <[email protected]>

 

16 February 2021 

Case Reference: IC-73593-C8T4 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

Please find attached details of a complaint raised with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.



Yours sincerely,

Jessica Malpass 
Case Officer 
Information Commissioner's Office
Tel: 03303131864

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
T.  ico.org.uk twitter.com/iconews

 

 

ICO complaint from Lesley Rice 16 Feb 2021 #1

ICO complaint from Lesley Rice 16 Feb 2021 #2

ICO complaint from Lesley Rice 16 Feb 2021 #3

ICO complaint from Lesley Rice 16 Feb 2021 #4

 

ICO complaint from Lesley Rice 16 Feb 2021 #5

 

Lesley Rice email Jan 2021

 

 

 

Lesley Rice's LinkedIn profile now has her photo deleted:

 

Lesley Rice Linked In Feb 2021

 

 

In November 2020, Lesley Rice's LinkedIn profile displayed her photo:

 

Lesley Rice Linked In

 

 

Lesley wrote in November 2020:

 

Lesley Rice blog 5 Nov 2020 #13

 

 

I replied to Lesley Rice's complaint (17 February 2021) with an addendum (18 February 2021):

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 10:47 AM
Subject: Re: Request for removal of photos
To: Lesley Rice <[email protected]>
Cc: ICO Casework <[email protected]>



Lesley,
 
In reply to your threatening email of 13 January 2021 (enclosed below) and your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (copied in here) which I received yesterday (16 February 2021) please consider this a formal reply.
 
As a public relations officer for a Norwegian-owned multinational operating in Scottish public waters, you must surely understand and appreciate the public nature of your job.  Recent media coverage of your company is certainly not pretty and it must be a challenging job trying to keep a lid on all the negative media stories:
 
 
 
 
I am sure that you do not like Scottish Sea Farms appearing in Private Eye magazine - as Andrew Neil presumably did not like appearing on a weekly basis in his vest - but it is surely part and parcel of your public relations job:
 
 
 
 
However, dealing with the public and fronting up to tackle PR nightmares that your disease-ridden company is regularly embroiled in is a daily part of your job.
 
Giving interviews to the media and being the public face of such a heinous company is sadly part of your job.
 
For example:
 
https://theferret.scot/salmon-firms-diseased-fish-photos/
 
 
 
Your lice-infested company unsuccessfully attempted to block the publication of damning photos of disease-ridden salmon (disclosed via FOI by the Scottish Government online here):
 
 
 
Your attempt to remove a blog featuring a photo of you which appeared on a public social media platform (LinkedIn) will be equally unsuccessful in my view. 
 
Scottish Sea Farms - the company which you are employed by - is a company with a public profile and accounts publicly listed via Companies House:
 
The two largest shareholders in Scottish Sea Farms (real name Norskott Havbruk) - Leroy & SalMar - include the Norwegian Government's Pension Fund (Folketrygdfond) which is invested on behalf of the Norwegian public:
 
https://donstaniford.typepad.com/files/report-scottish-scamon-feb-2019-2-scottish-sea-farms.pdf
 
In conclusion, I strongly argue (and I will be only too happy to expand upon this in any future discussions with the Information Commissioner's Office) that your job as head of public relations for a publicly-owned company operating in public waters is by definition in the public eye.  A photo you posted on a publicly available social media platform (LinkedIn) and emails you sent in operation of your public relations job are therefore in the public domain. 
 
I look forward to further discussions on this issue via the ICO (copied into this email).
 
In the spirit of public transparency I have included this information in a publicly posted blog and via Twitter:
 
Thanks,
 
Don

 

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 9:05 AM
Subject: Addendum: Request for removal of photos
To: Lesley Rice <[email protected]>
Cc: ICO Casework <[email protected]>
 
Lesley,
 
Further to my email of yesterday (I have once again copied in the ICO), it has been brought to my attention that your photo appears publicly in several other public media.
 
For example, on your Instagram profile online via https://www.instagram.com/lesleyrice_/
 
 
 
image.png
 
 
image.png

 
And via a 2019 article published via Fish Farming Expert online via https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/selling-scottish-seafood-to-the-world/
 
image.png

 
 
And your face features in a January 2018 issue of International Aqua Feed - a magazine published globally and online via https://issuu.com/international_aquafeed/docs/iaf1801_w1/66
 
 
image.png

 
Your LinkedIn profile provides details of your previous employment via Lesley Dougall Copywriting:
 
image.png
 
 
 
A public post by Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots via Facebook in May 2020 also provides your contact details as the public face of Scottish Sea Farms: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3116002661794366
 
image.png
 
image.png
 
 
 
Email correspondence and letters were also cited in a blog post in August 2019 via https://donstaniford.typepad.com/my-blog/2019/08/dont-stress-our-fish-campaigners-told.html
 
And via a Media Backgrounder in August 2019:
 
image.png
 
 
 
As the public face of Scottish Sea Farms, I fully appreciate that your job is a difficult one and that defending rampant welfare abuse, the slaughter of seals, the use of toxic chemicals and destruction of nature must take its toll.  However, your job involves public engagement (including Twitter).
 
 
 
image.png

 
Thanks,
 
Don

 

 

 

 

Scottish Sea Farms is not new to threats over the publication of photos - in 2018 their lawyers threatened legal action following a Freedom of Information request by Scottish Salmon Watch relating to photos of disease-ridden salmon.   The Ferret reported in August 2018:

 

Lesley Rice blog 5 Nov 2020 #1

 

The Ferret article included:

 


Lesley Rice blog 5 Nov 2020 #2

Read more via "Photo Dossier of Diseased, Deformed & Abused Scottish Salmon"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following another Freedom of Information request from Scottish Salmon Watch, the Scottish Government published further photos of diseased salmon at Scottish Sea Farms in October 2018.

 

Lesley Rice blog 5 Nov 2020 #3

Lesley Rice blog 5 Nov 2020 #4

 

Here's some close ups of the gruesome photos which lawyers representing Scottish Sea Farms argued would expose the company to "reputational damage":

 

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #1

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #3

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #2

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #4

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #5

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #6

FOI photo disclosure Sept 2018 #7

 

Read more via "EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon"

 

 

 

Given the horrors promoted by Scottish Sea Farms, it is no wonder Lesley Rice is reluctant to show her face publicly.

 

Lesley Rice Linked In Feb 2021 no photo

 

 

 

 

 

Read more via:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted at 10:49 AM |

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