Petition · past parliament
Make it illegal to use personal accounts for official business and communication
Rejected
11 signatures
What the petition asks
People in public office have a duty to keep accurate, transparent records, for their successors and bodies that hold them to account. We want law enacted to make it mandatory to use official accounts for communication, outlawing personal accounts for communication in connection with public service.
The government are subject to their own code of practice. If public servants are using private email accounts to do public business, this could be hidden, overlooked, or made unavailable during freedom of information requests or investigations. By making it illegal to do public business on private accounts, you minimise corruption and lack of transparency while helping future officials. Matt Hancock is the latest MP to be investigated for conducting official business using personal email.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 7 Jul 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 12 Jul 2021 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
11
Status
Rejected
Rejected
12 Jul 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.