Gdpr breach at work?

Being perturbed about someone not wanting to share their birthday is even weirder

Or, bearing in mind that the OP doesn't seem to get on with most people including the manager, she may let the OP hang herself and seal her fate. This person doesn't work for the NHS so it is highly unlikely that she accessed the information via NHS systems; and there is currently no evidence at all that there is a GDPR breach of any kind, anywhere.

So the OP makes an unevidenced unsupported serious allegation (serious enough to get someone sacked) and then the other person is investigated. Her response is "FFS I just wanted to be nice and give her a birthday card and hoped it'd help her to get on witha few people, she seems lonely and quiet, just wanted her to feel part of the team, and her mate Bianca / cousin Sally (insert someone other reasonable explanation) that she used to work with remembered her DOB and told me..."

OP is now accused of bullying and lying, and facing her own investigation whilst her team mates are furious that their mate has been put through this....

The OP needs to be very very careful that she does not make a bad mistake over a birthday card.

Finding out information about people is much easier than anyone thinks. My friend, now married to the guy, when OLD had me as her "backup and personal investigator". She told her now husband that I check out her dates to make sure they are above board. He told her "good luck with that as he has no social media or online presence". She told me. 20 minutes later I texted her to ask him how he enjoyed living in Japan, told her where he was born, and his best mates name. I literally got that in 20 minutes on google - no access to personal data required. People leave lots of information "lying around" even when they think they haven't.

In answer to your last question, I do think it's weird. If I asked someone when their birthday was and they said they didn't want to say I'd think it really odd and I'd be a bit weary of you.

Most people are happy to have 'work friends', just someone to have a quick chat to while the kettle is boiling on a break or something. Doesn't mean you have to start going on holidays together or anything. Birthdays are just polite chit chat, like the weather.

I guess your colleague has done some in depth googling and found the answer. She'd be a complete idiot to risk her job by misusing her nhs login. Sounds like she probably wouldn't have the right access rights anyway.

🎵 Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you 🎵
Happy Birthday Dear OP,
Happy birthday to y....raising formal grievance what?

See, I'm leading a one-woman campaign to revive lots of lovely old-fashioned vocabulary in a bid to encourage people to be a bit more adventurous with words. Toodle-oo!

The NHS Spine has all DOBs on it

Yes not telling someone your age/ birthday is really strange.

I’d say it’s more likely she’s found out the information from your current job not her counselling job.

Are you on social media, could she have looked you up on FB. Either way she sounds silky and I'd ask her again and as pp say, ay before you speak to hr or the governance officer. If it's innocent she'll tell you.

Tell her on Monday you have reasons, that you do not wish to share, for keeping your personal information private and can she tell you directly where she found out the information.

If she is not willing to share tell her you will be talking it to your HR and her HR about an inappropriate workplace GDPR breach and also putting in a request to the NHS for an audit of access to your records.

It is not the kind of information a lot of people keep so private, but you don't need to justify or explain to anyone your reasons.

Exactly my thoughts. Why would you want to get a colleague in trouble. I find it rather spiteful. You could just ask her, it could be entirely innocent.

"you sound like a bit of a pill"

😅 She's probably just trying to avoid having to take her turn at picking up a couple of boxes of doughnuts on the way into the office.

Inappropriate for someone with counselling training to go and find out your DOB and then comment that you don't look your age: that for me would be the issue. Her boundaries are poor and she sounds intrusive and over-personal — absolutely not ideal for someone offering counselling who needs to be sensitive to boundaries. She makes the idea of a birthday card seem like a threat.

But you sound like a bit of a pill too, to be frank, OP. What's going on in your office that she'd ask and you wouldn't just laugh and make a date up if you didn't want her to know? Your DOB is on everything, from your driving licence to your passport and in many workplaces managers know and organise token birthday celebrations in the workplace. I know I'm old and out of the workforce now, but I still hear of people taking cake or fruit or chocolate in for their birthday work 'do'.

I think I was probably about 8 when I last asked someone who wasn't a friend, when their birthday was, for no legitimate reason. It's the equivalent of 'what's your favourite colour?' I don't care.

So that's odd. But just as odd is not to push for how she found out. It's an exercise in futility to umm and ahh about whether it's a breach of gdpr. We don't know. For all we know she may have overheard the op giving her DOB when calling her bank during her lunch hour.

I pretty much agree with this. But I also would add that having read your previous posts, I think you need to decide what it is that you want from your colleagues. Your last lengthy post was about being excluded from staff socials and holidays - you commented on how you were being ostracised. Before Christmas you were upset at being left out of a meal that two teams went to, but were left out because you told people at work that you hate Christmas! And before that you missed a colleagues birthday celebration because you were dealing with a work issue then complain nobody came to look for you to see why you weren't there. Now somebody cares enough to want to celebrate your birthday and you want to report them for breaching GDPR (whether they have or not).

It may not be the best work environment, but even just basing it on your own comments I get mixed messages about whether you want to be included or not be included. You can't get upset or complain about them being friendly with each other or going out together whilst also telling them you want to be left alone, and then complain that they are ostracising you when they do leave you alone!

I think that you need to give serious consideration as to whether you and the job are a good fit. If your messages are so mixed here, I do wonder if your colleagues are getting the same mixed massages. You obviously don't like the majority of them - and whether that is a reasonable or an unreasonable dislike, it seems that the entire situation is making you unhappy. Life is too short to be this unhappy. Whilst I have every sympathy with your view that work is work and I don't expect it to be about making bosom buddies or great friends, you do need to be able to get on with people and at least not have the amount of drama that this workplace involves for you. That isn't happening, and the impact on you is unhealthy. Best move on before it gets worse.

Not definitely at all, she may have found out through some kind of mutual connection or legitimate access to the information at work.

No one here can possibly my say for sure what's happened unless by chance the workmate happens to see the thread and posts, I guessing you aren't her

Yes I’d say it is weird to be asked directly and be that secretive that you would refuse to tell someone your birthday. Though it’s your choice and you have the right to refuse. But it’s deffo odd

I have an unusual surname and just did a search on FreeBMD of births using my name only and was rather surprised that it brought up four entries with our DoBs spread across 17 years. OP would have to have a very unusual surname for her nosey colleague to strike lucky on her name alone.

I highly doubt she’s been able to access your nhs files unless you are a user of the specific service she provides. There is not one big nhs database with health info that everyone in the nhs can access. Additionally, a lot of the programmes log a users access of the files.

In that case she has most definitely accessed your personal records and has breached data protection. Report this and make sure it is properly investigated.

Is everyone's DOB listed on there? That's a red flag for identity theft surely

Birth Year and month are in the BMD database
Your D.O.B might also appear if you are in someone’s public family tree
She might know someone from your class at school
She might have a relative who knows you / your family

There are plenty of ways someone can know your DOB, that does not involve hacking into a system

I have worked for the NHS for decades and can't think of any situation where a non NHS employee would have access to NHS database. In our area, at least.

Also in our system you cannot search and find a person just by name - you'd need to know the date of birth already. Again this might not be the same everywhere.

Ask her how she knows!

As a previous poster said, NHS systems are not well connected. It’s unlikely she was able to access your information unless 1) she works in your GP surgery, 2) she works in your local hospital, 3) you’ve accessed the charity/service she works for.

Odd for her to go out of her way to find out that info, and to let you know she’d found out despite your obvious reluctance to share.

You're perfectly entitled not to share personal information with work colleagues if that's your choice @Ereerenownow

You could do a Subject Access Request to your workplace to find what records they hold about you, what emails etc etc - basically, anything that is relating to you. You might find out how she found personal information you haven't given her.

But she's the weird and indeed, wrong 'un. If she's accessed your data without good reason, she's breached the law. And sending you a birthday card is not a good or sufficient reason!

But don't ask her about it in private. If you ask her again how she got information about your birth date & age, do it in front of your or her manager.

It must feel quite uncomfortable working with this colleague.

ancestry.com sells date of birth?