GDPR breach?

[bluebunny123]

Hi all not sure this is the right place to post but wasn't sure where to put this.

I've found out today that my national insurance number has been given out to someone else by the tax office. This person has then been using my NI number to work, therefore it's been showing as me working two jobs.

The tax office are investigating, but would this come under a GDPR breach?
If so what should I do about it? I'm concerned that this has happened and could happen to others as well as the fact that it's put me in a bad situation money wise.

I should add I have no experience of GDPR or anything similar. Nothing like this has happened to me before so I'm a bit lost at where to go from here.

I wouldn’t say it’s a GDPR breach as no personal details have been given out to the person other than a number? It’s a monumental mess up on their behalf but that’s about it.

@Namechangerejsjs1239 thanks for the reply. Yes I agree it's a massive cock up. I was just hoping they could be held accountable so it wouldn't happen to anyone else. Can't believe how easily they can just give a NI number out to someone else. Our names aren't even similar!

Have they issued your number to them? Ie sent to someone when they turned 16 etc?
Oh just because it’s not a breach I think you can still hold them accountable... ie complain and complain about it and I think you will get somewhere .

Oh, this happens to me. Has happened a few times in last ..?6 yrs. I log into my tax account (will have to file soon, actually) and there is income attributed to my NI at a place I don't know never went to not my labour.... I first knew about it when I got an email about my address changing (It didn't). Told IR, and yet still sometimes a spot of work comes up under my NI that I didn't do. I keep telling them...

As long as I pay my true tax I don't really care. I presume someone is writing down wrong NI code in their casual freelance work. Maybe they are dodging tax -- not my worry to catch them.

@Namechangerejsjs1239 according to them this person came to work here from abroad so now lives here but when they started work they didn't have an NI number as they obviously didn't live here to receive one. Their workplace have phoned tax office to inform them and they've been given my NI number.. not sure how that could've happened. Will definitely be complaining about it for definite.

@lljkk the issue for me is that I've been paying higher tax as it is all connected to my info and looks as though I'm earning more than what I am. That's how I realised in the first place something was off with it.
Can't believe it's happened so many times to you! There must be something they can do to stop it surely. If it was an easy fix I wouldn't mind but it's taken them about 2 months to figure this out in the meantime I've been messed up money wise

I disagree with Namechangerejsjs1239. This is very definitely a GDPR breach. Because your NI number is unique to you it indirectly identifies you. See ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/what-is-personal-data/can-we-identify-an-individual-indirectly/

As for what you should do, your first step is to complain to the tax office. If you aren't happy with their response you can then take it to the ICO.

@prh47bridge thanks for the reply. I'm waiting for the investigation to finish completely and then I'll be complaining for sure. Personally I think it should be reported externally anyway, as I'm clearly not the only person it's happened to. Just wonder how many others have had it happen to them.

Because your NI number is unique to you

It's not you know. They might say that, but a friend at Uni discovered she had been "sharing" an NI number with someone since 16. She only found out when they said she hadn't paid enough NI to claim what used to be unemployment benefit. She took all her wage slips in, and there was a minor panic.

This was 30 years ago, and as far as I know they've never changed the system (and aren't likely to anytime soon).

There was a reason they used to be call the Department of Stealth and Total Obscurity.

It is supposed to be unique. It is described by the government as a "personal account number". As your friend found, if they make a mistake and give two people the same NI number it causes problems. That really shouldn't happen.

I had a different problem when someone with the same first name and surname as me got a temporary role through a local employment agency. I had never been in contact with this agency at all so I don't know how it happened but, although they got the right NI number for this individual, they gave him my address. This came to light when they sent me his payslip. It appears the agency had informed HMRC of this guy's "new address", as a result of which I received coding notices and other letters from HMRC intended for him for several months.

It is supposed to be unique. It is described by the government as a "personal account number". As your friend found, if they make a mistake and give two people the same NI number it causes problems. That really shouldn't happen.

Yeah, well ... government says a lot of things that are of questionable truth. Nothing new there.

Of course, as she noted, if she had not gone to claim UB, and managed to go her 40 allotted years without troubling the benefits system, she would have got to 60 before being told "no pension for you".

Of course, where you find one mistake ...

The NI system wasn't fit for purpose in the 80s. In the absence of any changes whatsoever, it's still not fit for purpose and presumably fleecing large numbers of people without their realising.

Wow I didn't realise it happened so often.. I've always been under the impression you're given a number and it's yours.
Interesting to hear it goes on so much!

Sounds like I'm lucky it's been picked up fairly quickly unlike others.. it's caused me a temporary inconvenience which could have been a lot worse by the sound of it

It depends as NI alone isn't identifiable. Name & NI is personal data as its different pieces of data that identify a person.

Could this have been a typo error?

It depends as NI alone isn't identifiable

From a GDPR perspective an NI number indirectly identifies you and is therefore personal data on its own. Try reading the link I posted last night.

@Techway it probably was a typo error.. they've obviously got their surname wrong and found mine instead and given my NI number out. It's all very odd and I'm not sure how it works at their end.

What I don't get is this person isn't from this country whereas I've lived/worked here my whole life so surely when getting my NI details up it would have shown that? And they would have thought oh wait a minute that can't be right she's not from this country. Again I don't know how it works but I would assume there are ways to make sure it's the right person. Date of birth or address for example. Even if it's not a breach someone's not checked properly in order to give it out to someone else.