Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about data protection concerns. This is because there is not significant enough injustice to Miss Y to warrant our investigation and there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complains she received a decision about a blue badge application which was addressed to someone else. She says she alerted the Council, who apologised and reassured her, her details had not been sent elsewhere.
2. Miss Y says she now lacks confidence in the Council’s ability to handle her data correctly, particularly relating to her disability.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss Y says she received a decision about a blue badge application which was addressed to someone else in December 2021. She says she alerted the Council the same day, who apologised and reassured her, her details had not been sent elsewhere. She says it told her it had been caused by the Council using templates which were not blank due to human error.
7. Miss Y says the Council upheld the complaint and apologised for the error. However, Miss Y, who suffers from anxiety, says she is now worried about the Council’s ability to handle her own data.

Analysis

8. Miss Y’s data has not been provided to any third party as part of this complaint. She has only received another party’s information, which the Council has apologised for. While Miss Y may now be anxious about the Council breaching her confidentiality, this is not significant enough of an injustice to warrant an investigation into the complaint. Consequently, we will not investigate this further.
9. Miss Y can also report the matter to the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO), who are set up to deal with such concerns. As the ICO is specifically set up for this purpose, they are better placed than us to consider this complaint. As this service is free, we would consider it reasonable for Miss Y to take this action.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because there is not significant enough injustice to Miss Y to warrant our investigation and there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman