GDPR question.

saunaboy

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

Marcon

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

It would certainly be a breach of confidentiality, but the problem would be proving it. If your current employer decided to sack you purely because they knew you were looking elsewhere, all they'd have to do (given how short a time you've been employed by them) is dismiss you, then trump up a reason if you challenged it. You'd also then put yourself in a position where you were making defamatory remarks about the wife if you alleged she was responsible for the breach - you couldn't prove it.

ItsComingRome

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

There's no reason why a staff member from company A cant tell the director from company B the information that you've provided as long as your contract allows it.

Do they allow "data sharing to relevant partners" or some other wide term that essentially means they can sell your data (or give it away) to anyone?

Realistically, as Marcon says, it's essentially unprovable so the law doesn't matter.

Besides, it's a bit horse/stable door at this point.

Undervalued

Marcon said:

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

It would certainly be a breach of confidentiality, but the problem would be proving it. If your current employer decided to sack you purely because they knew you were looking elsewhere, all they'd have to do (given how short a time you've been employed by them) is dismiss you, then trump up a reason if you challenged it. You'd also then put yourself in a position where you were making defamatory remarks about the wife if you alleged she was responsible for the breach - you couldn't prove it.

They don't even have to do that. It would be the the OP to show that that the real reason for his dismissal was one of the few that are exempt from the "two year rule" (e.g. race, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genuine health and safety issues and / or whistleblowing etc). There is no effective legal mechanism to force the employer to give a reason for the dismissal and any legal advice they got would most likely be not to offer one.

Marcon

Undervalued said:

Marcon said:

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

It would certainly be a breach of confidentiality, but the problem would be proving it. If your current employer decided to sack you purely because they knew you were looking elsewhere, all they'd have to do (given how short a time you've been employed by them) is dismiss you, then trump up a reason if you challenged it. You'd also then put yourself in a position where you were making defamatory remarks about the wife if you alleged she was responsible for the breach - you couldn't prove it.

They don't even have to do that. It would be the the OP to show that that the real reason for his dismissal was one of the few that are exempt from the "two year rule" (e.g. race, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genuine health and safety issues and / or whistleblowing etc). There is no effective legal mechanism to force the employer to give a reason for the dismissal and any legal advice they got would most likely be not to offer one.

They could if the claim was for a data breach rather than in relation to the dismissal per se.

Jillanddy

Marcon said:

Undervalued said:

Marcon said:

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

It would certainly be a breach of confidentiality, but the problem would be proving it. If your current employer decided to sack you purely because they knew you were looking elsewhere, all they'd have to do (given how short a time you've been employed by them) is dismiss you, then trump up a reason if you challenged it. You'd also then put yourself in a position where you were making defamatory remarks about the wife if you alleged she was responsible for the breach - you couldn't prove it.

They don't even have to do that. It would be the the OP to show that that the real reason for his dismissal was one of the few that are exempt from the "two year rule" (e.g. race, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genuine health and safety issues and / or whistleblowing etc). There is no effective legal mechanism to force the employer to give a reason for the dismissal and any legal advice they got would most likely be not to offer one.

They could if the claim was for a data breach rather than in relation to the dismissal per se.

Sorry but I don't unstand what you are arguing.  What could they claim? Even IF, and its a huge IF, they could prove to a legal standard that someone had committed a data breach, AND that that was the cause for dismissal, that is not a case arguable in an employment tribunal.  The grounds for claiming unfair dismissal  with less than two years service are clearly set down in law.  A data breach is not one of them. 

Employment tribunals have no jurisdiction. And if the OP could prove such a claim then their only remedy might be a civil case,  and that would be questionable. The chances of the ICO being remotely instated are low,  and even if they became involved, sanctions rarely go beyond a slap on the wrist. And that's if they can prove it.  Proof would take much more than I think the bosses wife might have said something....

Undervalued

Jillanddy said:

Marcon said:

Undervalued said:

Marcon said:

saunaboy said:

Hi,

I'm in a new job & the scope has changed vs what was agreed. So I'm on probationary but applying for other roles.

I have applied for a role at a local firm but a staff member is married to a director at my new place. I have told the HR dept handling my application & they have assured confidentiality. Bit obviously this is a worry as I bet I'd lose my job if they know I'm applying elsewhere.

IF the director's wife at my new place was made aware (say she saw my CV) and she then told her husband, would that be illegal? Would I have any legal position if I lost job?

I know, bit daft worrying but thought I'd check.

It would certainly be a breach of confidentiality, but the problem would be proving it. If your current employer decided to sack you purely because they knew you were looking elsewhere, all they'd have to do (given how short a time you've been employed by them) is dismiss you, then trump up a reason if you challenged it. You'd also then put yourself in a position where you were making defamatory remarks about the wife if you alleged she was responsible for the breach - you couldn't prove it.

They don't even have to do that. It would be the the OP to show that that the real reason for his dismissal was one of the few that are exempt from the "two year rule" (e.g. race, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genuine health and safety issues and / or whistleblowing etc). There is no effective legal mechanism to force the employer to give a reason for the dismissal and any legal advice they got would most likely be not to offer one.

They could if the claim was for a data breach rather than in relation to the dismissal per se.

Sorry but I don't unstand what you are arguing.  What could they claim? Even IF, and its a huge IF, they could prove to a legal standard that someone had committed a data breach, AND that that was the cause for dismissal, that is not a case arguable in an employment tribunal.  The grounds for claiming unfair dismissal  with less than two years service are clearly set down in law.  A data breach is not one of them. 

Employment tribunals have no jurisdiction. And if the OP could prove such a claim then their only remedy might be a civil case,  and that would be questionable. The chances of the ICO being remotely instated are low,  and even if they became involved, sanctions rarely go beyond a slap on the wrist. And that's if they can prove it.  Proof would take much more than I think the bosses wife might have said something....

That is my view too unless we are misunderstanding Marcon's point.

Yes, if (big IF) he could prove that the data breach was directly responsible for the loss of his job he may have a claim for damages in the county court. Maybe similar has happened elsewhere but I bet it is not common.