Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council committed a data breach when it revealed her identity to family members after she raised concerns about children in her family. This is because it is a complaint about a data matter which is best considered and decided by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council committed a data breach when it shared her identity with family members after she raised concerns about children in her family and about the impact of this. Miss X says the social worker admitted sharing her identity with family members but the Council later denied this. She says the Council has not effectively actioned the concerns she raised.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X complained to the Council that it named her as the reporter to family members after she raised concerns about children in her family. Miss X says the social worker initially admitted doing so to a family member but later denied it.
9. The Council told Miss X it had not shared her identity as the reporter to family members. It noted families can and do speculate about where information has come from, but it said her identity was not disclosed by the Council. As such, it was satisfied there had not been a breach of General Data Protection Regulations.
10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because complaints about data matters, such as this, are best considered and decided by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It is the body set up to consider complaints about such matters.
11. Separate to the complaint, Miss X also raised concerns to the Council about matters that have been considered by the family court. We cannot consider complaints about such matters. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. The Council has already signposted Miss X to seek independent legal advice on that matter.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is about a data matter best considered and decided by the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman