AIBU to think writing confidential HR notes on a train is inappropriate?

Same, writing up a GDPR issue while creating another 🤦🏼‍♀️

Stop working on a train in a non private area! Work at work not making up time whilst travelling.

Exactly this ! Stop being nosey and look out the window or read a book , it has nothing to do with you

I used to work in the public sector and we were specifically trained to be careful about things like this. It amazes me that so many people don't realise they can be overseen or overheard in cafes or on public transport.

Exactly so it's none of your business.

Maybe she should realise and manage her own security and not expect the world to turn a blind eye! Because they won’t!

I was going into work on the train about 10 years ago. Packed to the brim with commuters. An aged 30ish man was talking loudly to a mate on his phone. “Yes I’m at Name of Company now” he says - friend says something - “Yes I’m enjoying it, but all the women I work with are ugly” he replies sounding really quite annoyed. Well know insurance brokers in the City.

In my line of work we do an annual gdpr refresher course and this type of scenario is part of the training. Its very wrong and breaches gdpr

Last year, I took a train for work. As the train was about to leave, 2 Very Important Business Men crashed into the carriage, speaking very loudly and paying very little attention to their surroundings. They found their seats a couple of rows from me and proceeded to spend the entire 2 hour journey finalising their presentation, discussing their pricing strategy, what their known weak points were and how they were going to divert attention from them. All very loudly and in great, great detail.

If they had paid just a little more attention to their surroundings, they would have seen me, recognised me as their former colleague who had left the company 2 months ago and worked out that I was highly likely to be travelling to pitch for the same project as them (they had even quoted my departure as one of the things that they wanted to avoid talking about).

If they had been a little bit more considerate of their fellow travellers on the 6.30 am train, I might have taken pity on them and said something.

The look on their faces when they saw me as we were getting off the train suggested that they will never make that mistake again.

I once overhead someone talking on the phone on a bus a few years ago about an employee wanting time off because their child was off sick from school and no-one else was available to look after them and the other person was saying it wasn't their problem and they had to still come in anyway

@BanditTheCat , it isn’t breaking any law but it is.

How long ago was your career in HR????? The 1800’s??

I agree. Thinking how I’d feel if it was my personal info and info on a grievance being out there for anyone to see.

@Pineapplewhip , The people on here telling you to report her are complete Karen's who take complete joy in knowing they might get someone fired.
what's with the 'complete Karen's' other than showing you to be an ageist bigot with poor grammar?

No consideration for the fact this is a human being, who might have a handful of kids at home
What's that got to do with her competence or lack of it?
Would you think it was OK for your GP to be slapdash because he or she had a handful of children?

and be reliant on this job to keep her head above water.
A job in which she fails to follow regulations

Its not a good economy - she could be out of work for months if she was sacked.
Tough shit. The organization could hire someone competent.

and there is a chance she might have left the paper work on the train, it happens
there are rules surely

Do people with children deserve additional leniency for wrongdoing?

Yes she chose MN for advice. I agree with pp’s that if she feels so strongly about it then she should report it directly to the company rather than addressing it with the employee herself.

I agree, the OP is there to travel between A and B. But, in this instance she's involved herself, and has a choice as to her actions, she chose MN 🤷‍♀️

If I was the person being written about in public, I'd want to know, particularly if I already had a grievance in the same vein! I know I can't do my work in public, so I don't.

Completely wrong. I remember sitting on a train and being appalled as I watched someone marking formal exam papers opposite me.

Can't believe the OP is getting the blame on the first page at least. I'd be tempted to send a photo to the person involved in support of their case!

Yes, that's all well and good general advice. However, the law is a tad more specific, the duty in this instance sits with the controller, the employer. So, unless you are familiar with their data security policies and protections in place, for this it should explicitly state that she can't work on a train, or should supply the privacy tools if not, then they are the ones at fault. You can't judge her unless you know the controls in place. The ICO are not really interested in her personal disclosure, they are interested in the employers interpretation and compliance of A4.

Again, it is not the op’s responsibility to tap the HR woman on the shoulder and address it. The op can report it to the company if she likes and the company should be the ones to deal with it… not some member of the general public who happened to be on the same train journey. The op is not there to police employees of companies she doesn’t work for.

I didn't say it was right, I said it was understandable and mostly driven by modern work culture. Yes, she made a mistake, but the level of report her, on this thread, instead of maybe tap her on the shoulder and remind her that you can see it is pretty unpleasant.

The irony! This is a sackable offence where I work. Call and report this- they’d do it if it were you.