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

[Elphabababa]

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?)

It's more like peering through a hole in your fence at your naked neighbour.

The neighbour is on her own property. The train is a public place.

And I should think confidentiality and data protection requirements still apply even if you are wfh in your own house or garden. You would still need to ensure that no-one, not even your close family members, could see your screen or overhear calls.

Yup! People keep trying to blame the op. But everything all points back to the person who had the information on display - the person who’s job it is to protect the privacy of that information

It never ceases to surprise me what people do on the train. I once sat next to someone reading the pre-release financial statements for a large listed financial institution. More recently I could clearly see the draft Board minutes for a large asset manager.

I once sat opposite two men working for a competitor company discussing the company's business strategy to expand into exactly the area my employer was focused on.

I think if this thread proves anything it's how little an idea the general public have about good data security.

You shouldn't be working on the train - or in cafés, anywhere public - if anything you do is confidential or handles client data.

I don't work on the train at all for this reason. Yes, people are busy and have time-pressured lives. That is no excuse, however.

Wow - I hope you said something! Silly arses...

My takeaway from this thread is that MNers are far better at being nosy than I am.

I usually try to look at other people's screens if I can see they have Spotify open as I'm always interested in what they're listening to. I rarely manage it. I've also tried to glance at laptop screens on trains and never succeeded in seeing anything like the detail the OP has. I don't believe you'd ever be in a situation where you "just can't help" seeing a stranger's screen.

I would say that trying to get a random woman fired for something that doesn't remotely affect you is a far worse personality trait than her doing her job sloppily. In a situation where you don't owe any loyalty to either party, why on earth would you side with a random corporate company over a random individual? Have a word with yourself.

I hold keys for my workplace, which is a valuable building. It is my responsibility to lock up said workplace at the end of each day. If I neglected to do so, and someone broke in and trashed/robbed the place as a result, I would not be able to shrug off my negligence by noting that vandalism and robbery are illegal.

'Side with'? This isn't primary school, and it's not about 'siding with' anyone. It's about upholding the law, which is there to protect everyone.

The 'random corporate company' could equally be in trouble if it became known that their employees were so careless about data protection.

The fact that you could read the employee’s name and job title in a public place along with description of a grievance is a gross breach of gdpr!

Under the Employer’s duty of Integrity and confidentiality, employee’s personal data must be kept secure against loss, unauthorized access, or destruction.

You being able to see it is the unauthorised access, and the penalties against the employer are very severe for this. No HR employee worth their salt would dream of working with employee personal data in a public place without a privacy screen, and I am sure that even with one, they are breaking gdpr rules…

Reporting the individual would not necessarily lead to firing- likely only disciplined with a warning.

Also she would not be "siding with a corporate company" ! She would be siding with an individual....the one who had his data leaked and who was subject to harm!!!

What makes you think it is corporate allyship to point out to them that they have poor controls and behaviours!

Have a word with yourself

I have to confess I'm a bit puzzled why you think I should have done. Business don't succeed by being nice to competitors whose staff make corporate mistakes.