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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you would be bothered about this?

19 replies

UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 13:11

I received a letter from former my employers to my home address. It contained highly sensitive personal information. It was marked "private and confidential" on the letter itself, but not the envelope.

My name was missed off, so showing through the window was just the house address.

It was opened in error by the householder (not me) assuming it was a twist on "To the Occupier"

Would you be bothered that a highly sensitive letter had been misadsressed in this way, or would you shrug your shoulders and think "accidents happen"?

(If it's relevant: HR aware I am not the house holder; no harm done as householder privy to info in letter, though not a close family member. Would have created an uncomfortable situation all round if this hadn't been the case.)

OP posts:
honeysucklejasmine · 27/07/2018 13:13

It's not ideal not to include your name on the letter.

You do live there though? So the only error was not addressing it to you on the envelope?

Original poster
UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 13:13

Oh- and no criticism here to my FIL who is the house holder! There was no sign it was for me, not for him, or private/confidential (which might have made him think, hang on, who sends an occupier letter that's confidential? etc)

OP posts:
Original poster
UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 13:14

It's my registered address, but I am not always there (hr aware)

OP posts:
ShawshanksRedemption · 27/07/2018 13:16

Should have had your name. Should have had "private and confidential" on the envelope too. Accidents do indeed happen, but if I was in a house share where other occupants could open my mail, I would not be happy.

BoxsetsAndPopcorn · 27/07/2018 13:17

I wouldn't complain just because a letter was folds slightly off in an envelope.

You can usually just tear the front of the envelope above the window to see the addressee if a shared household.

Inmyvestandpants · 27/07/2018 13:18

If there was no harm done I’d shrug and chalk it up as a near miss. If you think it might happen again with a bad outcome, a friendly call/email to HR to point out the envelope situation would be in order.

BackforGood · 27/07/2018 13:26

I think I would say something, if your name wasn't part of the address, in the window box, yes. That's pretty important when sending out a letter.

Original poster
UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 13:33

Perhaps I'm being sensitive about it as it's not the only fuck up they've committed.

Thanks, all!

OP posts:
Peachteeshirt · 27/07/2018 13:35

Yes do say something- lesson learnt for employer for future so mistake doesn’t reoccur

NonaGrey · 27/07/2018 13:39

I might say something in a polite “just to let you know” way in case someone needs to change their process.

CurcubitaPepo · 27/07/2018 13:42

I’d say something.

My old employer sent out my p60 with no stamp, which I had to collect at the post office whilst I was on mat leave.

When I was next in, I let hr know. Hr took action against the member of staff responsible as it wasn’t the first instance of lack of attention to detail when sending out confidential information.

seastargirl · 27/07/2018 13:47

This could be considered a data breach under gdpr ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/personal-data-breaches/ I'm surprised HR aren't all over this.

I would contact HR to advise and see what they do.

Original poster
UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 14:00

Thanks, guys - really helpful Flowers

OP posts:
crisscrosscranky · 27/07/2018 14:15

I work in a senior HR position; some of the advice here is a bit extreme without knowing all the facts. I would immediately leap to disciplining a member of my team and if you work in places that would I'm sorry for you!

I'd be more annoyed with FIL for opening post that wasn't addressed to him in a house with other occupants.

Sunnysidegold · 27/07/2018 14:23

I think you need to take it up with work. Yes the person. Who opened it was privy to the info contained but it could have been someone else. In an old workplace a colleague cocked up by sending two people's letters in the one envelope. As a team we were all called in and steps were taken to make sure the same thing didn't happen.

Original poster
UtterlyDesperate · 27/07/2018 15:04

@crisscrosscranky at the end of the day, the alternative would have been a family meeting to discuss who should open mail without an addressee specified - I'm really fine with him opening mail that seems to be addressed to the household himself, seeing as it's his house!

I see it as a data protection breach, and wondered if others concurred. If someone in a similar situation, where for whatever reason, they had a less open relationship with others in the house, it could result in major repercussions.

I honestly suspect it was sloppiness: they've shown they pay little attention to detail so far. What I am wondering is whether I flag this up so hopefully it can be avoided in the future, or whether I forget it: wwyd if someone flagged this up to you?

I don't want to be petty, and I'm wondering if it would be petty to raise it. I have plenty of issues with them, and I am sure this is clouding my judgement to boot.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 27/07/2018 18:43

Crisscross You can't blame a home owner for opening an envelope addressed to their own house/home,, that doesn't have anyone's name on it.

You aren't being petty OP, you are trying to ensure it doesn't happen to someone else, for whom there might be greater consequences. If I were the person who had made the mistake, or their manager, I would thank you for letting us know. I would apologise to you, and then I would point out the mistake to the person who did it, explain why it wasn't good enough, and hope that were enough to make sure it didn't happen again. Obviously if it were a person whose work were generally sloppy / poor quality and was being monitored anyway, then it would be another thing to add to a list. If it were a first time' thing then hopefully understanding why it wasn't 'correct' would be enough.

FrangipaniBlue · 27/07/2018 20:28

Speaking as someone with experience and training in GDPR I'd say it's potentially a breach, depending on whether what was in the letter meets the legal definition of personal data (I can't comment without knowing specifically what it was).

They have a legal obligation to protect your personal data, so by sending it out mislabelled they haven't done that.

Depending on how far you want to go with it I'd at least seek advice from the ICO, I think you may even be able to do it without giving your ex-employers name initially and then you can give their name if you decided to make a formal complaint to the ICO.

Busybusybust · 27/07/2018 20:39

Good grief! That is appalling. Someone needs a rocket up theirs bottom!

Working in FE, I would send out 2000 enrolment letters to next year’s students. Obviously they could not all be scrutinised individually, so I relied on the MIS Dept for an an accurate database to mail-merge the letters.

One year a level 2 beauty therapy student tragically died 6 weeks before the end of term. She had applied for level 3.

So her grieving parents received an enrolment letter addressed as follows:

Miss l2 student
Deceased
Deceased
Deceased
Then the postcode.

I still get tearful when I think about it. Her parents were so sweet about it too.

This stuff really matters!

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