For those who work in HMRC

[Sonygirl23]

Hi all,
Recently my friend got a job offer in HMRC as an admin assistant. Start date is in next month.
I was wondering because she knows my name- would she be able to look at my full employment records/address/childcare details without my permission?
Ofc I know HMRC has all my info but the idea of her looking at my very personal info without my consent is a bit alarming

I don't work for HMRC but I know someone who did and who was severely disciplined for looking up records of people she had no need to be looking at. So in theory she could probably look - but she might get fired for doing so!

Data Protection legislation means she should only access personal information in the line of work.

I work there OP. It's rule #1 that you don't ever look up yourself or someone you know and would be an instant sacking if you did.

Instant dismissal. She would be escorted from the premises with her clobber in a box.

No one working on the civil service is allowed to look up anyone without a proper work-related purpose.

You can’t look up yourself, anyone you know, anyone famous.

However, I think the big issue here is that you clearly don’t trust this friend. I know lots of people who work for HMRC, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind that they might look my details up for a nosey. What is it that’s got you worried?

To be honest the likelihood of her being able to access that info would be limited anyway in an AA role. You only get access to business systems that you need for your work. As previous poster has said, it would be an incredibly serious disciplinary offence to access personal records without a business need to do so, most likely resulting in dismissal - but leaving that aside, she would only be able to access systems containing the sort of information you're concerned about if that information was relevant to her role. There are multiple systems dealing with different taxes etc and I would not be able to access anything about someone's wages or childcare arrangements as I've never worked in that area. In fact I don't think I can access any taxpayer info in my current role as it isn't relevant to my job. So you shouldn't be too worried.

Thankyou for your responses everyone 🙂 and I feel a lot more reassured now!