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.

So many (wrong) armchair lawyers on this thread who don’t like what OP has done so are putting the boot in!

@Harass3d cannot sue the school or the headteacher for libel because she has not suffered “serious harm” - ie financial harm as a result which has been a prerequisite for libel since 2014. She could sue for malicious falsehood however.

The headteacher cannot successfully sue @Harass3d for defamation even if he could overcome the serious harm test because she has an honest opinion defence.

It is the child’s GDPR rights which have been breached - a vulnerable child with additional needs as we now know - so whether @Harass3d provoked this or not is completely irrelevant as that’s not the child’s fault.

And even if she did provoke the head (there is actually no evidence she did) or there is a backstory that does not excuse his actions. If your neighbour slipped on a patch of ice and you laughed at them, would you not be able to report them to the police if they got up walked over and slapped you/your child around the face? The OP has broken no laws here, the head has. At least twice.

I do wonder if, say he knows you're a nurse/doctor etc and it's a rural school in Scotland - Realistically he has probably been able to work out that you work at NHS Highland/ Grampian or something. Not saying I agree it's reasonable! But there may be no evidence that he's looked up your kids records e.g. to find an emergency work contact for you.
It's the LA who oversee the school so I'd be going to them first

Both of my DC’s school hold details of my employment…it’s so they can contact me in an emergency….not so they can complain to my employer about me.

I would love to see this a libel case.

Can you imagine the local headlines - and the comments on local social media.

Headteacher sues parent who says school is useless

As someone who works in this field….

If the head teacher accessed your sons records to find out where you worked to send this letter it’s arguable that the data wasn’t used for the purposes it was intended for but that will depend on the data privacy notice. So that would potentially be a breach of GDPR.

However depending on the nature of the post and the circumstances it could be argued the data was processed / used on a legitimate interest basis. I can’t see how this could be true BUT without seeing the post and the complaint to employer and full circumstances of it all it’s hard to be certain.

If the school records don’t show where you work then it’s not got anything to do with GDPR and the head teacher will have gained this information from publicly available info.

However this story is odd - for a head teacher to write to someone’s employer either the head teacher is unhinged OR there is more to this all.

My suggestion is to write a letter of
compliant to the governors of the school about this all, as it’s just weird behaviour a head teacher doing this.

@Themagicclaw he won't need to look up her records. If he's in a school small enough to be the only one for the community and she's worked with the school previously of course he'll know who she is !! OP has left out her own massive breach of professional ethics here.

I think you are quite right ! Whether you or any other parents dc has special needs or not .

Why do schools get away with murder and nobody is allowed to call them out on it. .
It’s soemthing I am sick of!

You have done nothing wrong. He doesn’t like his poor way of doing things highlighted and he is out to get you . Probably a “she has tarred my name I will tar hers “ kind of thing.
Also seems he has went for you as possibly with your type of work people are more prone to listen to you in his eyes and your comment will
be listened to more than just gossip .

What is unethical about a parent saying that she thinks the school is useless in the way they deal with SEN?

I mean you must have done this more than once - if you haven’t, you’re still doing it now - Mumsnet is social media and you’re repeating that the HT is useless etc. Some of those 110 people who commented (and the other however many dozens and dozens who didn’t comment) could recognise this and screenshot it again. Then his claim is now right that there have been complaints about your social media and this absolutely is a public forum. And the situation is recognisable. So you’re actually doing it again. But bigger.

Come back at me all he wants - Just don't make up false claims.

@gingerlybread not necessarily.
My DC are at a school with over 600 pupils. It is rural and the only option other than private or Catholic schools. They get bussed in from everywhere! Rural doesn't mean tiny. I've had brief professional input with my DCs school and I can guarantee the HT hasn't got a clue who I am.

@cakeorwine health care professionals should not be criticising anyone on social media, especially in a small community. "GP / district nurse says the head teacher is useless " with no substance to the complaint is poisonous and causes reputational damage.
The NHS may not have such strict standards, but teachers in Scotland cannot do anything like that.

I think that many parents have an opinion in the UK that their school is useless.
So many headteachers might ask themselves "Is this me?"

There’s lots of schools like that in Scotland too. I think of at least five, but there will be more in areas in am less familiar with.

The letter sent to the OP's employer is proof positive that the school have collected and stored details of her employment.

Its up to the school to keep a record of when, where and why this personal data was collected and what permissions were attached.

Do you work with children yourself?

Many organisations have social media policies which include not bringing the company into disrepute. This can mean being an arse and slagging people off.

If someone took a screenshot, they obviously thought you were being an arse about the HT.
And it's fairly simple to find out where people work from social media. It sounds like you're a prolific user, posting in 'private' groups with hundreds of people. Don't be a fool next time.

I have never worked in the school, for the school or in education services.

No it’s not. The person who sent the screenshot could’ve sent it with a note that said “did you know she works at xxxx”

You can’t guarantee it no. For all you know his daughter’s boyfriend’s dad works with you. It is surprising how many ways you can be connected without realising or ever knowing.

It wasn't a public group.

Normally school hold phone numbers for parents so that they can contact them in an emergency, not 'Mrs X works at Specsavers'.

@GlasgowGal82 @Themagicclaw there are lots of schools like this in Scotland, it was a private group and someone has shared it and identified the OP and he's put 2 and 2 together. Not to be too outing but most HTs in schools of 600 know who their parents and pupils are, especially if the parents work with the school.

That’s not what I meant. Do you deal with children in your job in healthcare?

'110 comments '

Doesn't sound that private. Unless it was a slagging match between a few people about the HT?