AI-written text in Cabinet letters, Claude Code leaks passwords via a settings file

Ministers sent the House of Representatives letters containing AI-generated text without disclosing it, a settings file from Claude Code put secrets on GitHub, and a lawyer explains when a civil servant may refuse AI.

Ministers sent the Dutch House of Representatives 76 documents containing AI-generated text, without disclosing it

De Volkskrant examined 3,597 letters to the House of Representatives and answers to parliamentary questions from the Jetten cabinet, sent between 23 February and 24 October. In 76 documents, text generated wholly or partly by AI was present, two letters consisted entirely of it, and in not a single case was it stated that AI had been used. In some cases civil servants used the free version of ChatGPT, which runs counter to the Dutch central government's own rules.

What does this mean? If you work for a government body or for a client with AI rules: use only the approved business environment, keep a record of how you used AI, and disclose it where that is expected.

Government & municipalities de Volkskrant (via ANP)

Claude Code stores approved commands containing passwords, 1,122 files publicly exposed on GitHub

If you choose "Yes, and don't ask again" in Claude Code, the tool saves the approved command word for word in .claude/settings.local.json, including any passwords or API keys it contains. Security firm Apiiro found real secrets in 1,122 of 104,185 public copies of that file on GitHub, among them 379 database passwords and 23 AWS keys. Deleting the file later does not help, because older versions remain in the git history.

What does this mean? If you use Claude Code: add .claude/settings.local.json to your .gitignore, use environment variables instead of passwords in commands, and replace any keys that have already ended up in a repository.

IT & software development Cybersecurity The Hacker News

A civil servant cannot simply refuse AI, but need not cooperate with unlawful use

Binnenlands Bestuur set out what a civil servant who is opposed to AI in principle may do. An employer may use its right to give instructions to decide which tools you work with, so you cannot simply refuse an AI system approved by the municipality on principle. Refusal is possible, however, if a task conflicts with laws and regulations such as the GDPR, if there are concrete risks of errors, discrimination or privacy violations, or if the employer fails to provide sufficient training, which the EU AI Act requires.

What does this mean? If AI is made mandatory at your job, ask about the agreements on privacy and training, and report it when you see a system making mistakes.

Government & municipalities HR & personnel Binnenlands Bestuur

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