The code has now been invalidated and an investigation has been launched to identify the person responsible. The General Base Union called the password “a disgrace” and asked the mayor of Bologna to apologize to the employees.
The municipality of Bologna distributed the Culture Card for 4,000 employees. The card is a reward, “it offers free entry and special reductions for museums, exhibitions, theatres, festivals, cinema, concerts and courses for 12 months, as well as a program of exclusive activities”, we read on the site. There’s only one problem: the code sent to the employees hides an insult, or rather two. The 17-character key is “27UP1d0c0c091ion3″, it is therefore simple to decipher it by replacing the numbers with the associated letters (2 stands for S, 0 for O, 3 for E), and this is how the passphrase appears “Stupid asshole“.
The insult was reported by Basic General Union (Sgb) and the card manufacturer apologized, explaining that an investigation had been launched to find who was responsible. It is very unlikely that the password was created accidentally. Sometimes there are programmers who enjoy hiding phrases or, as in this case, insults. Just a month ago, a file called rutto.mp3 was found inside the Intesa SanPaolo app.
The password sent together with the Culture Card
The Culture Card and the alphanumeric code were sent together with a letter of thanks from the mayor Matteo Lepore: “Not only a sign of gratitude for your work”, we read in the message accompanying the Card, “but also an invitation to bear witness to Bolognese culture, becoming an explorer, enhance and share the richness of our cultural heritage. Thank you for your daily commitment and have fun with your Culture Card“.
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For the General Base Union (Sgb) the passphrase is a disgrace, “it is the only form of welfare provided for by the shameful supplementary contract signed by CGIL and similar and approved by only 10% of employees”. He then added, addressing the mayor directly: “Dear Lepore and dear managers, the municipal employees may be idiots…, but not so stupid as to be unable to decipher the alphanumeric code in social slang, keep quiet and accept the mockery of his letter. The mayor apologizes, changes the code and takes charge responsibility for this shameas well as take action against its managers without passing the buck”, reads the press release.
The Municipality has already sent a request for clarification to Bologna Welcomemanufacturer of the card, and has code invalidated. The tourist office confirmed the ongoing investigation to identify the person responsible for the offensive alphanumeric code, “we will take the resulting technical and organizational measures to ensure incidents of this nature do not happen again“.
