Should I make formal complaint - breach of confidentiality by funeral director staff

jackyann

Traditionally, the point of making weddings open to the public was so that objections could be made. No point if the person who knew about the first Mrs. Rochester was told he couldn't come in........

And OP, I'm glad that your grieving was helped by the moving ceremony you describe. I hope that some of the initial replies have been helpful.

Flugelhorn

the marriage service / ceremony has to be open to the public up until the questions as to whether anyone has any objection to the marriage, after that you can lock the doors! (nearly had to once as a churchwarden as there was an angry ex out and about ... as it was they did stay away)

pimento

Mojisola wrote: »

In our village church there were half a dozen older ladies who turned up for every wedding, funeral and christening. The events were compared with previous ones and much discussed over tea and cakes in each others' houses.

My wedding too. They were like the row of old crones knitting beside the guillotine.

PennyForThem_2

You need to make a complaint to FD firm. If you do not get a satisfactory response then make a complaint to Information Commissioner who oversees the Data Protection Act 1998

Katgrit

PennyForThem wrote: »

You need to make a complaint to FD firm. If you do not get a satisfactory response then make a complaint to Information Commissioner who oversees the Data Protection Act 1998

OP has said she doesn't want him sacked. And leespot has made a excellent points in their post. Formal complaints rather than quiet "just having a word" complaints are a sure fire way to get someone in big trouble rather than just have them correct their ways for the future.

jackyann

I think that a "quiet word" is better as quite well informed people on here are unsure as to whether the date & time of a cremation is public knowledge, so OP can quietly check that with FD.

Midwives I have known, when asked about babies they delivered, would distinguish between medical & personal details of the family (confidential) and the public fact of the date & time of the baby's birth & its gender.

PennyForThem_2

Ask the Information Commissioner (IC) whether you should make a complaint as they are the 'watchdog' in charge of data protection act under which this comes.


IC is really approachable - ring or email. They will advise.

bouicca21

I don't see what all the fuss is about. The op got the ceremony she wanted. The fact of the death is public knowledge. The time of the ceremony will probably have been posted on the door of the crematorium. What is wrong with people knowing that your partner has died and that he was cremated in a ceremony according to his and his partner's wishes?

Nicki

Doesn't sound like a data protection breach to me. The Data Protection Act is very explicit in that it covers only information held on a computer, or information committed to paper and held in an organised filing system. Describing what happened at someone's funeral is very unlikely to fall into either of these two categories.

Baffled as to why the OP did not want them to confirm that her partner had even died. Death certificates are public records and searchable by the general public.

I hope this is just grief manifesting itself and that a junior member of staff at the funeral directors is not going to be accused of wrongdoing or having to worry about being reported for a data protection breach.

pollypenny

I'm very sorry for your loss, OP. However, you are over-reacting. No one intruded on your private service and it's not a secret that your husband has passed away.