Is this GDPR breach

[Harass3d]

A complaint has been lodged with my employer about a comment I made on social media (not upheld!). This complaint has come from the head teacher at my son's school and he has identified himself as such (fine) but then goes on to identify me as a parent (which has no relevance to his complaint) am I right in thinking this is a breach of GDPR? It is no business of my employers where my son goes to school.

This is more gaslighting by @Ramblethroughthebrambles im afraid @Harass3d you are rather collecting them on this thread.

Your OP was crystal clear that your own employer has said you have done nothing inappropriate here. So don’t listen to an internet rando who knows better than those who have actual knowledge about both your interactions with this man, professional standards, and have actually seen what you posted!

You commented about the school your son goes to. The fact that you are a parent is technically already in the public domain.

He doesn't teach my child so that's unlikely to be an issue 😅

Are you not here posting an opinion on a social media site about your opinion of me and my parenting without knowing anything about me. My child is perfectly well behaved thank you, no issues there. He has additional learning needs. I doubt you will find any parent who has not become extremely frustrated with education at some point especially those of us navigating education in a rural area with a child who has different needs.

If you want to read back you will see I have already stated what false allegations he has made against me which have been disproven by my employer.

FYI several of my close friends are teachers. In general I am supportive of the sh!t show that our education system is in and I wouldn't do the job for all the money in the world.

Thanks for your input.

Her employer obviously agreed that the allegations were false as the complaints about OP by her son's headteacher were not upheld.

Maybe a better use of his time would be to sort out the issues with the SEN provision for OP's son which she has raised through the correct channels with no response.

Apologies @Harass3d I misunderstood* *who 'professionally' was referring to.

It still might be worth contacting him directly to raise the other issues though, if there's any chance this might produce a better outcome for your DC? Or do you think it could make things worse?

First the OP is entitled to choose via her Facebook privacy settings who she shares this info with. And second she could have an opinion of the school and HT without having a child who is a pupil there. She could have a neice or nephew there, a best friends child, or have a patient who had struggled there. So no, commenting on a post made by someone else about an unnamed school is not the same as making the school her own child attends public.

And even if it were it’s irrelevant for the reasons I’ve previously explained.

I don't see where a breach has happened here. If I was in your shoes I would be more worried about him possibly coming after me for defamation.

And she chose badly. Therefore making it public knowledge. Welcome to social media. Regardless of privacy settings, you don't post anything you don't want the world to know.

I don't think she'll get anywhere with this.

@Katrinawaves eh? 'more gaslighting'?! Have you actually read all my post? I wondered whether something was the case and asked. I was wrong, or probably wrong, as OP is not aware of him being a service user. I agreed it was a GDPR breach on the HT's part....

I'm not sure how to proceed with this tbh. I am exploring all options and have not ruled out trying to resolve this without complaining about his complaint.

Ultimately I want what's best for my child. But I also went to make it very clear that I will not take false accusations about me shared with my employer lying down.

Yes, you are and it was on a private page so similar to sending an email which somebody then forwarded to the wrong person.
You didn't post it publicly or libel anyone.

One thing that is abundantly clear on this thread is that many people have a very poor understanding of social media and the (lack of) privacy thereon.

WRT to knowing where you work - could this simply be that your child has told the HT at some point and they remember?
I am 99% sure when I was in school every single child knew what everyone parents did for a living in their class.

Ultimately I want what's best for my child. But I also went to make it very clear that I will not take false accusations about me shared with my employer lying down.

That makes sense and I guess the two aren't entirely separate - leaving the false accusations unresolved one way or another will not help if you need to approach the head directly in the future about your child's education.

There's a lot to weigh up for you and I'm not surprised you're not sleeping. Would it help to list all possible avenues, pros and cons of each and possible outcomes? Might help to make it all feel a bit more contained so you can actually 'sleep on it' before making a decision.

Information being in the public domain is irrelevant in determining whether there is a breach of personal data. Personal data doesn't have to be secret. A lot of it is, sure, but a lot of it isn't.

If a random person called up and asked the school if Op's DS was a pupil, the school couldn't confirm it, because doing so would be breaching data protection laws (and also failing in safeguarding). It doesn't matter that someone could just stand outside the school and see if he comes out wearing a uniform and get the information that way. The HT has basically just done the same thing by confirming a pupil attends his school with no legitimate reason and with no consent.

The question is whether HT has breached his obligations under law by disclosing (ie processing) personal data available to him in his professional capacity (ie the fact that Op's child is a pupil) in a manner which he was not permitted.

I'm fairly confident Op didn't consent to "you can get in touch with my employer and tell them which school my child goes to in order to complain about a personal comment I made on my SM" and the HT clearly didn't have a legitimate interest in processing that data.

Anything else is completely irrelevant.

Will the ICO do much? Unlikely given the sensitivity and harm is minimal, but that doesn't change the fact he has breached the law.

If he's accessed your records for any other reason except the one they are intended for then that's a breach of GDPR.

Apologies @Harass3d - I didn’t read that update properly, it seems!

The head didn't phone the employer, there's nothing to suggest they used a work landline phone number which may or may not be on the school database anyway.

@noblegiraffe - how do you know he didn't phone where you there? Nope so stop making assumptions. He could have

Yes, I did miss that update - apologies.

She lives in a rural area so another secondary school is probably miles away

Well my other option is to sell up move and look for employment elsewhere in an area we are otherwise happy with.