To report council to ICO?

8 replies

Fedupmum88 · 05/02/2021 07:10

It’s come to my attention that the SEN department of my local council have the incorrect home & email address on my sons file for his father.

I raised this with them yesterday and the assured me that nothing had been sent to these addresses and they would remove the contact straight away.

Over 24 hours later the incorrect details are still there. I have had no apology from the council. WIBU to report this data breach to the ICO? I’m fuming!

OP posts:

KatyClaire · 05/02/2021 07:36

If nothing has been sent there I’m not sure it is a data breach, but if you think they’re lying about that then yes, I would report.

Original poster

Fedupmum88 · 05/02/2021 07:58

@KatyClaire

If nothing has been sent there I’m not sure it is a data breach, but if you think they’re lying about that then yes, I would report.

They’ve recently changed to an online system so I was emailed a link to view my sons file (I just had to click the link and set up a password). I’m presuming the same link was sent to the incorrect email address they had for my husband and fortunately this person hasn’t gone on to it.

I would put it passed them to lie, as I said they told me the incorrect details have been removed and they are still very much there 😩

OP posts:

user1495884673 · 05/02/2021 08:02

I would leave it longer than 24 hours. It would be just as concerning if they deleted a parent's address just on the say-so of their ex - too much potential for malice.

As to the fact that they have the wrong address on file, it probably depends on the circumstances as they do have a duty to ensure their information held is accurate. If he moved three weeks ago and didn't bother informing the council, it is a very different situation to if he moved 5 years ago and has notified them 15 times.

user86386427 · 05/02/2021 08:10

The ICO won't be interested until you've fully followed the council's complaints procedure, 24 hours is not long enough and assuming contact still has not been made the situation hasn't changed. Chase again today and ask for a time frame as to when it'll be updated, baring in mind some systems update at specific time intervals. The ICO only really come into it after the fact if the organisation hasn't resolved the matter to your satisfaction, the council can still sort.

1DoesNotSimplyWalkIntoMordor · 05/02/2021 08:13

Have you informed your sons father that the SEND dept have incorrect personal details for him? It may prove to be more productive for him to inform them that they have the wrong details.

user86386427 · 05/02/2021 08:21

Also just to add the council have a month to rectify, though they should be aiming to do sooner than that, are they happy with you changing the file as it's the father's information? If it were me I would have asked for the dad to do with proof of ID (if being done under right to rectification at least). So you shouldn't deal with ICO until time frame has elapsed unless the council refuses the change.

Original poster

Fedupmum88 · 05/02/2021 08:55

@user86386427

Thanks I didn’t realise they had 30 days to rectify, you would think they would have just said this rather than telling me it had been removed when it hasn’t.

Me & sons dad are still together, we live at the same address. The address they have for him is a hospital building and the email address for a female hospital worker so really do not know how they’ve made this error 🙄

Yes the council are happy to remove dads details on my say so. Husband is under a lot of stress with work so really don’t want to bother him with this.

Ill get the details for the complaints process ok really not happy with how they’ve handled this.

OP posts:

user86386427 · 05/02/2021 09:04

@Fedupmum88 I would just check how their system works first. Some systems update over night or even on a weekly basis, so a change may have been made in the back end but it isn't yet published. I would call and see what they can see in the back end first before making a complaint.

Flip