legal advice re data protection

dunstonh

so what should i do next ?

What do you want to do?

Its not a compensation issue for you as you are not financially worse off and it was information she was entitled to know about anyway. The ICO rarely dishes out fines on things like this as the firm was deceived by your wife. It was published in 2011 that just 36 out of 2,565 data breaches were acted upon by the ICO, with only four cases resulting in monetary fines. So, it would likely be a "we have been made aware of a potential breach.... take more care..... and dont do it again" style warning letter.

The fact the firm director is aware of it will pretty much mean they will take action internally.

jamesd

See Ombudsman News case 91/3.

I agree with the company that your wife is the primary responsible party here however it was wrong for them to disclose details about your account to her anyway. For example, just holding a joint account is not sufficient reason for a bank to disclose even the existence of a sole account by one of the joint account holders, certainly not any transactions on the sole account. The pension company relied on a relationship that it was not entitled to rely on as demonstration of authorisation to disclose.

They should have required contact with you before disclosing.

The Ombudsman News case provides an example of how you might proceed, both encouraging the company to address its procedures and seeking some modest financial payment for distress and inconvenience, perhaps.

You have also now had a demonstration that your address is not secure and that fraudulent activities will be carried out by your wife. Be sure that credit card and other companies know that they should not send new cards or anything else that is confidential to it. You're now on notice that she may abuse her access to those things, perhaps to the extent of taking money without your authorisation. If she knows any pf your PINs be sure to change them and use a completely different method of selecting a PIN from any you may have used before that she might guess. You're particularly vulnerable because she could order things and have them sent to the cardholder address where she would receive them.

dunstonh

See Ombudsman News case 91/3.

Had to have a laugh at 91/11.

91/3 is a very close match. It does appear that the FOS thought the goodwill offer by the bank very generous hinting that they would not have awarded such a thing.

Out of interest, was the address for the pensions changed? If it was then it works against the advising firm. If it wasnt changed then it works for the advising firm as part of their mitigation.

JuicyJesus

dunstonh wrote: »

Had to have a laugh at 91/11.

I love Ombudsman News' brilliantly tactful way of putting things across while leaving some of the more sordid details to the reader's imagination. That was no exception.

This for instance is comedy gold. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/94/94-consumer-complaints.html#cs9 I always wonder about the nature of the "discussions" Mrs B had with her son.

grazzzz

dunstonh wrote: »

Had to have a laugh at 91/11.


Out of interest, was the address for the pensions changed? If it was then it works against the advising firm. If it wasnt changed then it works for the advising firm as part of their mitigation.

No due to illness until our house is sold the address is the same as it always was ! however as i said before this company had never spoken to me before i received the phone call advising me my pensions had been reviewed and the statements left with her !

grazzzz

dunstonh wrote: »

What do you want to do?

Its not a compensation issue for you as you are not financially worse off and it was information she was entitled to know about anyway. The ICO rarely dishes out fines on things like this as the firm was deceived by your wife. It was published in 2011 that just 36 out of 2,565 data breaches were acted upon by the ICO, with only four cases resulting in monetary fines. So, it would likely be a "we have been made aware of a potential breach.... take more care..... and dont do it again" style warning letter.

The fact the firm director is aware of it will pretty much mean they will take action internally.

They have now offered compensation !

jamesd

Good. How much? It's always interesting to know how much money companies think is appropriate in such cases when they clearly got things wrong but there's no direct financial loss.

grazzzz

they asked me what i wanted and my main concern was that i didnt happen to others and that they learnt by there error !
They asked what i wanted in compensation i suggested £200 to which they agreed !
As a positive i have asked to meet the financial consultant to go over his review and to draw a line in what has happened !

dacouch

JuicyJesus wrote: »

I love Ombudsman News' brilliantly tactful way of putting things across while leaving some of the more sordid details to the reader's imagination. That was no exception.

This for instance is comedy gold. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/94/94-consumer-complaints.html#cs9 I always wonder about the nature of the "discussions" Mrs B had with her son.

I like 07/20 mentions father is an ex police officer who had taken medical retirement http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/7/july-innocent-non-disclosure.htm#718

dunstonh

They asked what i wanted in compensation i suggested £200 to which they agreed !

Consider that a result.