AIBU to think writing confidential HR notes on a train is inappropriate?

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I am on a train in the UK.

Someone on the seat in front of me is writing up meeting notes from work. All clearly visible through the gaps between seats. I am slightly long sighted mind you.

I have seen that:

• She works in HR for company X
• The meeting was for an employee named Y (I can see his name and job title), following him raising a grievance about a GDPR breach of his data within work.
• Subsequent notes of the meeting about this grievance.

She's still typing her notes now.

AIBU for thinking that people should be very mindful of what work they complete in public places? And that this is inappropriate, and if Y found out that these notes were being written in full public view, they would have a further grievance on their hands?

Or am I a nosey parker?

(Or both?)

How about let them just know you can see a lot of confidential information. Just in case they weren't aware.

How about let them just know you can see a lot of confidential information. Just in case they weren't aware.

But late for that, seeing that it was two days ago.

But the point is, anyone dealing with personal or confidential information should not need to be told not to do it in a public place.

And as for all the posters saying this poor little woman shouldn't be expected to do her job properly and professionally because - because - because - Is it any wonder women sometimes aren't taken seriously in the workplace when other women have this attitude?

Well they should be….

It’s hardly rocket science is it!

Really? "Don't work on confidential documents, or talk about confidential matters in a public space".
I can (just about) understand someone w/o HR training might need reminding, especially if it's a one-off project or something, but I'm baffled this isn't basic HR training.

Could have typed the notes with xx as name and changed when in a private setting to actual name/initials.

So imagine if instead of writing and instead of someone else it was You that HR was loudly talking about / naming/ recounting details of a disciplinary. It’s not a bit of chit chat or gossip - it’s a ( supposedly) specially trained and qualified professional spilling the tea in a fully visible and public place. Absolutely no difference to a doctor naming and talking about embarrassing/ confidential cases. It’s completely and utterly reprehensible , and a million miles away from one co worker slagging off another co worker. It’s a CASE which may even ( and often does) result in legal action. Either the people not getting this have never worked in their lives or they have no moral compass/ extremely low expectations of employers.

Our work has a policy in relation to tech use that specifies no work on laptops on public transport. For this reason!

Absolute stupidity from that employee.

I'd say you're the one behaving inappropriately in this scenario. Should've asked the person you were snooping on for their opinion. And also emailed their colleague for their take.

I agree, but employers are vicariously responsible for the actions of their employees. A prudent employer makes sure its staff are regularly trained and re-trained on such matters, particularly where they have a statutory responsibility.

Fair point.

Why should she? She was a member of public who just happened to see the employee of a company breaching confidentiality.
Why are people blaming the op when it’s the HR woman who broke the law! HR woman should have kept confidential info private not had it out on public display on a train!!!

This HR woman isn't the only one who behaves inappropriately on trains. Article on the BBC today about Wi-Fi on trains:

On a typical journey, Rebecca estimates she can manage only about half the tasks she would normally be able to get through at her desk. When she has audio calls, she forewarns her colleagues she might lose connection.
"I just wouldn't risk having an important video call," Rebecca says, citing how unstable the connection often is. "I would never plan one."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8pn4l03r7o

No, we don't want to hear your audio calls or hear or see your important video calls.

And another person the journalist spoke to:

As a teacher, she says she often wants to work on the train, but says the connection usually isn't good enough.

People are awful on trains. I once sat next to someone who was looking at documents with highly confidential printed on them!

And then there was the guy who was moaning about his colleague Clare. I eventually told him to shut up and remember his duties of confidentiality and after a supercilious response he did shut up,

My DH mentioned this morning that there was an article on the BBC about train wifi being improved and someone said they had to make audio calls on the train because they couldn't trust the wifi for video calls. I mean, really? These people walk (travel) among us...

(Just seen that the post above mine referred to the same comment!)

Seriously? Does that mean if someone dances around their garden naked, I am not allowed to look out of my window anymore?

For goodness sake.

This was already covered upthread. JoeyJava is wrong on this point.

I am obviously capable of realising that it could be me!

However, a person on the train is most likely not in a tiny village and the chances are that the person able to see their computer does not know me. The chances of real embarrassment for me are small.
In any case, it's a workplace matter, not a serious violent offence and not something the OP should be reporting to anybody's employer. At the limit, yes, maybe tell the HR person you can see their computer and ask them to be more careful, but there's no need to go reporting them and it's not OP's responsibility.

So let’s flip this around…. if this HR employee instead worked in a hospital or GP practice and decided to do some “work” on the train and opened up a patient’s medical records - let’s say your medical records for example, when there’s a risk that someone else on the train could see them and see everything about you, maybe find out you had diarrhoea or a gynaecological problem… and a fellow passenger was able to read all this from the seat behind, would you still be saying the same thing?

What this HR woman had on full view of other passengers was personal information about an employee who worked at the same company as her! Just because it’s a different situation to the example I have given above doesn’t make it ok or any less of a breach of confidentiality/ GDPR!!

Yes, I would be saying the same thing. It's not good, but it's also not serious enough for me to report someone to their employer. The chances that the person on the train knows me are small and I'm not a snitch (for this kind of thing).
If it bothered me, I would speak to the person directly.
Reporting someone to their employer is disgusting. I can't think of any circumstance in which I would do it because in the case of a serious offence, I'd go to the police.

Agree. Especially as it was a complaint re GDPR

That’s not the point. And having someone’s CONFIDENTIAL information on full view is grounds to report to the employer! You claiming it’s not serious when it’s actually classed as a serious breach under GDPR, I would say is serious. The chances of the op knowing the HR woman are very slim, yes… but not impossible. They were on the same train. May even have got on the train from the same station and may be from the same town!

I wouldn't report anything that doesn't clearly hurt a victim.
I've seen people shoplift and I don't report them.
If they hit someone then yes I would, but it would be to the police.
I have nothing to do with someone else's employer.

“I've seen people shoplift and I don't report them.”

Says it all… I rest my case 😂

So you would report a shoplifter? You'd taking it on yourself to defend the interests of a big company over somebody taking chewing gum? Seriously?

I wouldn't report anything that doesn't clearly hurt a victim.

And how would you know what will hurt a victim?