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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Complaining to pip.

Trollydoll01

Hi
Apologies if this new discussion is in the wrong place, Im still trying to figure my way around here.
Im really upset and stressed out because Ive been waiting for ages for my decision letter and assessment report , I rang dwp a few times to chase up and enquire where my paperwork is? And been fobbed off twice with the " ok we will get that posted out today 2nd class bla bla.. but Ive been through all that twice and still nothing they dont offer any other effective way of recieving the paperwork either which is so frustrating. So today after calling dwp (again) a third time I asked to be put through to whover actually does the posting process, eventually she looked at my case and discovered all my paperwork had infact been posted to an address near me!!! And said I have no idea why or how thats been done??I called round to the address of where my most personal mail had gone &a stranger confirmed she had got two lots of post for me and opened it!!!! Abd then said she posted it back. So a complete stranger has had my most personal information, I am just distraught at level of date breach, all because the dwp sent my post to the wrong house any advise on complaining on something like that. A line has definitely been crossed by sharing my personal data like this.
💔

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calcotti

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/make-a-complaint

poppy123456

Complaints procedure here. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

Trollydoll01

@poppy thankyou.

Trollydoll01

Has anyone here experienced anything like this?

Cartini

Trollydoll01 said:

A line has definitely been crossed by sharing my personal data like this.
💔

Hi,

DWP didn`t share your data at all. What they are possibley guilty of, however, is ineptitude or incompetence.

Or maybe you gave the wrong house number when applying? Before you jump down my throat, it is possible. I don`t like using telephones (I sometimes get flustered), so when I phoned DWP to start the PIP process I gave my mobile number over, but I mixed up the last 3 numbers (and I`ve had this mobile number for over 10 years).

You could also argue that your "neighbours" are at fault for opening your mail when it clearly wasn`t addressed to them. I would, personally, be more annoyed at that.

Andy

Trollydoll01

Jump down your throat ?

"A data breach occurs when confidential or protected information is compromised either accidentally or deliberately " GDPR regulations. Luckily my partner is extremely knowledgeable with gdpr laws as he writes books on it.
Dwp have most definitely broken GDPR law by compramising my information.
My situation is different to yours. I gave all of my address details correctly and that was verified today when I was told
They have no idea how this happened but is an error on their part which of course is really upsetting knowing that now a complete stranger has recieved such personal information of mine, its so potentially dangerous. Im definitely not upset at the stranger who recieved it through no fault of their own however the dwp are responsible for this and its really not ok.

schoolmum

Hi @Trollydoll01,
As @Cartini said it might be the person who opened it is at fault as the envelope with your name on would have had the 'return to sender' address on, so just a case of simply marking it not 'known at this address' and reposting.

The Postal Services Act 2000 clearly states that it is illegal to open someone's post, or delay it reaching the owner.

Royal Mail advise if mail arrives at your home not addressed to you, whether it's for an unknown person, a previous tenant or a previous partner, make sure you clearly write 'return to sender' not known at this address and put it back in the post as soon as possible. Maybe try to see can you trace it to a nearby neighbour.

I also agree with @woodbine
As annoying and frustrating as it is for you mistakes can happen and there is always a chance of both system and human errors in everyday life.
It does seems like a genuine error has been made, nothing intentional or made personally against you.
I noticed on previous threads/posts you have said you have rang DWP several times and been told letters had been sent out.
I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but maybe you could have checked they had your correct details and to what address they had been sending them to as you hadn't received them and time was passing.
I also note you had stated in previous threads you work for HMCTS and also said...

"Luckily my partner is extremely knowledgeable with gdpr laws as he writes books on it".
As such I am sure you will also be aware that...

The GDPR gives you a right to claim compensation from an organisation if you have suffered damage as a result of it breaking data protection law.
This includes both “material damage” (e.g. you have lost money) or “non-material damage” (e.g. you have suffered distress).
As you have not suffered 'material damage', maybe it will be down the

'non- material' compensation route you will need to look into.

Wishing you well in your MR outcome.

Cartini

woodbine said:

Which I suppose begs the question what do you expect them to do ?

The fact is that mistakes happen and I suspect that's all that this is a mistake, do you expect someone to be sacked for pressing the wrong key on a computer?

You say " A line has been crossed" I would disagree with that tbh.

Agreed.

Cartini

Trollydoll01 said:

"A data breach occurs when confidential or protected information is compromised either accidentally or deliberately " GDPR regulations. Luckily my partner is extremely knowledgeable with gdpr laws as he writes books on it.

There`s a whole world of difference between "sharing" and "data breaches".

Yes, it`s a data breach; No, it`s not sharing, therefore no line has been crossed.

There`s plenty of information out there about you (you in the general and not personal context) that anyone with a bit of knowledge could easily acquire.

Yes, this is annoying, but is it really worth getting stressed over it?

If my neighbour opened a letter addressed to me, I`d be more concerned that she didn`t respect our friendship than the fact she`d opened and (possibly) read a letter addressed to me.

Trollydoll01

I am waiting for my account to be deleted, I have emailed a request so no further comments are needed as this account will be gone soon I hope.

Trollydoll01

@bibl
Thankyou so much for your message, yes thats totally it- knowing a neighbour has seen my most personal information is just mortifying for me, I appreciate your kind words but in all honesty I feel uncomfortable here, some of the commemts here just feel like a social media space for people to shout their opinions on things and some have felt unkind and Im suprised that this hasnt yet been picked up and dealt with by the powers that be?
Honestly thankyou though' you totally get where Im coming from and why Im so upset! ♡ xx

nasturtium

Hello TrollyDoll01

If you feel that you have been treated badly by the DWP (which you have by your post) then you have the right to contact your MP to make an official complaint. You can find your MP and there contact details here https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons Put in your postcode and it will direct you to your MP and it will give you there details for you to contact them. I would do what Poppy and Calcotti advised and also send a letter to your MP. (cover all bases) Yes it might have been a mistake but it is a very bad and serious mistake that should never of happened.

CharlieRose256

Hi, ex healthcare professional here, so I have some training on data protection.

To the people saying that mistakes happen ect ect, can I ask that you put yourselves in Trolly’s shoes. Those papers usually include very personal healthcare information, and it *is* a breach of the data protection act 1998 under principal 7 - security.

Principle 7 - Security

Personal data should be protected using reasonable and practical means to maintain its integrity and people’s rights and freedoms. The Act specifically states that controllers must adopt measures to prevent the following:

· Unauthorised processing of personal data

Personal data is information about an identifiable living individual. This will include any information which has been anonymised, but where the individual could still be identified. Health is included as sensitive personal data.

Trollydoll01

@CharlieRose256 @bibli
Thankyou so much for taking the time to show me some support, Ive felt quite attacked here to be honest and its really upset me, I couldnt agree more with your comments guys, even if you dont agree with a persons personal feelings on something just be kind?
X♡X

elahrairah

I think that there were some uneccessarily rude and dismissive comments on this thread. IME the DWP are completely incompentant - in fact, I would go so far as to say deliberately so. My partner had the DWP repeatedly write to her asking for a certain bit of evidence. Four times! It was sent to them by recorded delivery twice and once by email. They responded to the email to repeat their demand for the exact bit of evidence that had been sent to them in teh first place. They also made repeated errors about the date of her claim, including getting it wrong twice on the same letter differently! So I can totally believe that they sent everything to the wrong place, and I can understand why you're upset - it is a data breach of the type that may be prosecutable but in reality is unlikely to go anywhere unless you can afford a good lawyer. I would be interested to know if the police care, but I doubt that they will.

To have people who clearly haven't got any experience of the things you're talking about dismiss you is so enfuriating, when it feels like you're at war with the DWP in order to get the legal pittance you're entitled to in order to not starve to death. I am glad to see that its only a minority of posters who like to be rude and dissmissive to new posters here, its nice that most respondants were sympathetic.

CharlieRose256

woodbine said:

Trollydoll01 said:

I am waiting for my account to be deleted, I have emailed a request so no further comments are needed as this account will be gone soon I hope.

Thats a shame, always bad news to lose a member, sometimes when we ask for advice we don't always get the answers or agreements we seek/expect.

Yes but what you and another poster did was just straight up gaslighting and cruel. You can disagree without doing either of those things. Maybe just take a minute to think of how to word things without coming across as blatant rude and blunt.

Adrian_Scope

Note from moderator:

I just want to pipe in here and remind everyone that all discussions on Scope’s online community should remain civil, supportive, and safe. I can certainly imagine how frustrating it would be to have my sensitive information treated so carelessly and I know that even if there wasn't a great deal that could be done to address the data breach, a little understanding from others might go some way to making me feel a little bit better, or at least heard.

Sometimes when something can't be undone, all we can offer is empathy, so let's all please try to remember that.

Trollydoll01

@elah
Thankyou! Yes totally agree its a major mess up by the DWP and its really stressed me out knowing a stranger knows the most personal things about me, Im so frustrated at this whole thing.
But I will definitely be putting a complaint in and contacting my local MP to request some help there aswell.

Trollydoll01

Thankyou Adrian, my thoughts exactly.

Trollydoll01

Thankyou to the people who showed kindness here🙏 I really appreciate it 💟 I think if a person, any person has expressed that they are upset by certain comments then maybe think why and see if we can do better, or just dont comment further if your approach has upset them and you dont feel like you have done anything wrong, you may not mean to offend someone but have inadvertently
And that happens, but how we comment after knowing a person is offended should be done with compassion shouldnt it? 🙏🦋