Someone has divulged my address without my explicit consent WWYD?

KMA

Good evening and thanks for your collective input so far. It is good to get the diverse opinions and viewpoints.


Yes, the charity is run by volunteers who probably do not 'get' the data protection act, most possibly by the reasons suggested by those who have replied.


I will have a think about how I might be able to broach this in the first instance to the charity chair, assuming this will be in confidence, as my first port of call. Also the point about the charity contacting the person with the details of the requester might have been a better approach.


However in this case, the person who gave the details to the man who turned up at my house, is one of his close associates, so either he did not think it was a problem or is unaware that women may less appreciate that approach of turning up at their house unsolicited or thought it would be OK


I am not listed on the public electoral roll so not readily 'findable' that way. Which was one of the reasons we are not publically listed as we value our privacy, unless we know people very well and/or let people know where we live and invite them to our place, we prefer to meet them in public places like the pub!

m1kjm

I'd be cross about it and I'd let the chairman know it wasn't acceptable. If the chairman didn't take my concerns seriously I'd be signing him up to everything I could think of to see how much he enjoys unsolicited contact and then I'd have to leave the group so that Mr Creepy no longer had an excuse to give me the creeps.

coolcait

I agree with everything that has been said about the DPA and the fact that the charity shouldn't be giving out people's addresses.


What if the charity didn't give out the address?

TBagpuss

I would start with an informal conversation with the chair. I would make clear that I was extremely unhappy that my information had been given out, that the person to whom it was given had turned up uninvited on my doorstep so there had been a direct, and negative, result of the charity's actions in giving out my details, and that it was also almost certainly a breach of the DPA, which could have significant consequences for the charity if I or any of the other women whose details were disclosed were to make a formal complaint. I would probably also tell the chair that this person has shown up on the doorsteps of a number of female members of the group but, to the best of my knowledge, not on the doorsteps of any of the men, and that this is an added concern, and that I would be appropriate for the chair to speak directly to Mr Creepy to make clear that the addresses were given to him in error and that he should not go to the homes of members unless the member concerns invites him

If I felt that was not taken seriously then I would follow up with a formal, written letter of complaint, explicitly mentioning the DPA, and making it clear that giving out such information is not only a breach of DPA rules, but is also inappropriate and could put vulnerable members at risk.

I would ask that the charity ensure that it makes all volunteers aware that information must not be disclosed and that it confirms to you in writing what steps have been taken to ensure that this does not occur again with any information.

mandragora_2

Crikey! ............

Goldiegirl

mandragora wrote: »

Crikey! ............

Not crikey at all, the DPA really is THAT important - maybe people who haven't been in an environment where dealing with confidential customer information don't understand the importance.

The punishment for breaches are massive fines, so it's vital that everyone dealing with confidential information understands their obligations

Mojisola

TBagpuss wrote: »

I would start with an informal conversation with the chair. I would make clear that I was extremely unhappy that my information had been given out, that the person to whom it was given had turned up uninvited on my doorstep so there had been a direct, and negative, result of the charity's actions in giving out my details

I agree.

Luckily, in most cases, giving out information like this won't result in any problems but it certainly could do.

There are women (and some men) and children who have moved to a new area to escape an abusive partner. Some of these abusers will go to great lengths to find an ex partner - going through a charity for particular interests or specific health issues is one possible route.

Even well-meaning volunteers running small charities should be aware of their responsibilities. We are very cautious about who gets access to our membership list among our volunteers and would never give out a member's contact details without permission.

PlutoinCapricorn

I remember being furious when a family member sent an unpleasant stranger round to my flat: I said that this was someone I would never give my address to. We need to be aware that some people have good reason to dislike unexpected visitors, and that it is bad manners at the very least to pass on personal information without permission.

mandragora_2

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Not crikey at all, the DPA really is THAT important - maybe people who haven't been in an environment where dealing with confidential customer information don't understand the importance.

The punishment for breaches are massive fines, so it's vital that everyone dealing with confidential information understands their obligations

Oh. Ok. I still think that the post above was something of a strong reaction to what is, in all likelihood, simple over-enthusiasm and naivety on the part of a volunteer in a charity. The OP asked WWYD, and that's fine, people would do all sorts of different things. I'd already given my tuppenorth a few posts earlier. Other people are entitled to handle it differently.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

As it isn't certain that the information was given out - he may have helped himself to the details when his friend wasn't looking - I'd word it something along the lines of

'So and so turned up at my house the other evening and it seemed like he wanted me to let him in. I've never told him where I live and I found it a bit weird that he knew it. He said you'd given it to him, so I wanted to let you know I'm not comfortable with that and to make sure he doesn't have my phone number as well.'

'No, I'm sure he didn't realise I wouldn't be happy, but apparently he's done the same with x, y and z. I was hoping that you'd have a word and let him know that not everybody is keen on someone knocking on their door when they haven't been invited round.'


Now, if you get blustery ignorance, it's a good time to say 'well, the thing is that it's also a breach of the Data Protection Act and nobody wants the charity to fall foul of that, do they?'. But if you get 'I certainly didn't give it to him, I wouldn't', you can reply 'well, he's got it from here, he even said you gave it to him, so if you didn't, I think we need to be far more careful about how personal information is stored.'