Royal Mail bread of GDPR

[Twingirlmumma]

Hi!

sorry if this isn’t the right place to post! But looking for some advice. I received a letter through my letter box this morning in a completely clear envelope stating my original letter had been damaged and Royal Mail had put it into this clear packaging. My issue is that this letter is from my mental health team. The contents are completely visible to my postman, sorting staff etc . It has my NHS no, my mental health diagnosis and medication all which are visible before you even reach my address. This letter also contains my children’s names in the first sentence! Ofc I won’t know if anyone at the post office read this but surely this is a breach?! It’s dated from July too so god knows how long this has been floating about. Not sure where to start with this or whether it warrants a kick off/fuss to Royal Mail?

That's crummy. I wouldn't expect you to roll with it. See if you focaccia postman next time and ask him. Don't let them tell you to baguette about it.

(That was my rubbish attempt at humour.) Seriously yes I'd make a complaint as not only postal staff but anyone in your house could see your private details. The delay is unacceptable too.

This is a standard process for a damaged envelope. The alternative is that they threw it in the bin without looking? I'm not sure what else you would have wanted them to do? They need to get it delivered.

Hi ,

yes I completely understand that. But surely there should be a different process where insanely personal info is visible? As said before anyone in my house could have read that.

Well it did give me a laugh! 😆

I ofc understand standard procedure is put it in a new envelope to ensure it’s delivered. But I think there should surely be a different method if it contains very personal information as you say anyone in my house could read it (thankfully I’m not in a situation where it needs to be a secret to my partner) but perhaps that could be the case for others

I'm not sure this would be a GDPR issue, since GDPR places obligations on 'data processors', and I'm not sure that the Royal Mail would fit this description in this context.

It certainly seems like a failure on the part of the Royal Mail, but you would need a different grounds on which to complain

if they can't apply logic to what should and should not go into a clear plastic envelope, i worry for the future of Royal Mail, tbh

OP i would try to find out who is head of data protection at Royal Mail and contact them about changing some of their procedures, that sure one person needs to scan the letter for an addressee, but then they can see it's sensitive and not put it in a clear plastic bag for delivery? treat it like a suggestion and "lessons learned"?

I get your concern, but ultimately all mail is personal and private, and it shouldn't be any mail workers job to decide on a pecking order. If it gets to you, that's the main thing. Also I want a sandwich now 😊

Okay thanks everyone . Think I am sensitive as it details mental health issues . Probably going to hide this now . Thanks for all your advice

Yes, this completely. There can't possibly be an expectation on postal workers that they will read and assess the content - in fact, there is probably the opposite expectation.

Is there a reason why they have to use clear packaging in any case? If there is, theb they can't be expected to sometimes use opaque packaging. But on the other hand why would clear packaging ever be preferable??

Postie (Toastie?) probably didn't ciabatta'n eyelid at the contents, though. I'm sure s/he wouldn't have noticed them

That would involve them reading the letter to decide it was sensitive. Which is what the OP didn't want

They put it in clear bags so it's clear to the recipient and postie what has happened. And where addresses are visible it continues to be visible