Surveyors forwarded my emails to person I'm disputing

[cookiesnotcream]

My surveyor has forwarded my email to my neighbours surveyor who has then forwarded it on to my neighbour who I'm in dispute with.

They now have the email I wrote including my personal email address. Is this a privacy issue? Aibu in thinking this is very bad of both the surveyors as I thought there were laws now protecting my emails or data?

It would seem non standard. I have a party wall surveyor, appointed by me, paid for by neighbour as is usual in the party wall "dispute" system. He doesnt forward our males to them but he does forward their emails to us.

I feel very uncomfortable that my neighbour now has my email address. I didn't think they were allowed to share that sort of thing with them especially as it's a dispute. This is a party wall dispute also.

Surely that’s a GDPR breach?

Does it really matter if they have have your email address, given that they know where you actually live? Are the contents of the email problematic?

Hmmm. It’s a bit clumsy. You can’t undo what’s done, but (I assume you and your neighbours don’t get on) I think it’s worth pointing out to your surveyor that you really would rather they not had your email. It could be they assumed that you’d already exchanged email addresses if you and your neighbour had previously corresponded?
Or, if the contents of your emails may become available to the other side as part of “disclosure” in any event, perhaps they decided there would be no merit in making effort to redact your email. Or, if your email is a work email rather than a personal email, they may have viewed it differently to if it were a personal email.

Mention it to them, and they’ll probably think harder in future when forwarding corresp. I’d suggest not claiming it’s a GDPR breach... I’m in a profession that frequently sees GDPR misunderstood or misused and any mention of it causes the deepest internal eye rolls.

It does seem to be a breach, but to take action there needs to be a risk attached to the disclosure of the information and as a pp has pointed out, seeing as the recipient is your neighbour and already knows where you live, it may be difficult for you to prove risk. There is a self assessment tool on the information commissioner's website to help you
ico.org.uk/for-organisations/report-a-breach/personal-data-breach-assessment/

There doesn't have to be a risk.
The data holder has to consider if there is a risk or not to decide if they have to report themselves to ICO.

That link is for the solicitor who has breached GDPR, not the OP.

Sharing personal data like an email address without permission would be a data protection issue.
However you might need to check that you didn't sign something that said you agreed to sharing with "interested parties" or similar.
They might be okay sharing it with the other solicitor, not sure, because it could be argued that they needed to share your email for information. However I would expect them to remove your email address before doing that.

So they may have removed your email address when they forwarded. I've done that, removed an email address from a forwarded email so the recipient doesn't get that bit. It's very easy to do.

Thanks for responses.

I have received a letter personally from my neighbour in which they have shared copies of my insurance documents which include all my personal information and policy information. They've also said they've contacted my and their insurers.

I was initially concerned about my email address but this letter that the neighbour has written, including my documents has made me very concerned and angry as I did not share these documents with them, only the surveyors.

What on earth do I do

Generally surveyors have to be registered with a professional body. If I were you I'd start by talking to them.

The email I wouldn't have been concerned about, the fact they have copies of your insurance details would now concern me as that is a breach of GPDR.

@cookiesnotcream

Thanks for responses.

I have received a letter personally from my neighbour in which they have shared copies of my insurance documents which include all my personal information and policy information. They've also said they've contacted my and their insurers.

I was initially concerned about my email address but this letter that the neighbour has written, including my documents has made me very concerned and angry as I did not share these documents with them, only the surveyors.

What on earth do I do

Ask the surveyors if they’ve forwarded this information and for what purpose?

It's a definite GDPR breach and they must report it. You can too. I would be contacting their professional body and making a formal complaint as well.

You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office. ico.org.uk/

Have you got legal advice cover with your house insurance? Might be worth giving them a call.

@Icancelledthecheque yes the surveyor said he did and blamed it on the wording the used in the party wall award. I didn't give permission to share any of my data or documents with the neighbour, only the surveyors but they've just forwarded everything on. I'm so angry and feel frustrated that the surveyor has tried to fob it off and pretend it's no big deal.

On the rics guidance which is the professional body, it says I should put in a complaint with the surveyor about it and it will be escalated accordingly.

I will call my home insurer regarding legal advice tomorrow.

I feel at dispair at this process.