The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council wrongly sent Ms X’s confidential information to the wrong address as this is a matter for the Information Commissioner Office.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council wrongly sent a letter containing sensitive personal information to a third party. This has caused Ms X distress and inconvenience and she seeks compensation in recognition of this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority on data protection matters and it is best placed to consider the concerns Ms X raises.
We cannot determine what damages Ms X has been caused by the data breach. Only the courts can do this and there is a procedure open to anyone to make a claim in the courts for compensation for damages. Ms X could do this herself or ask a solicitor to take on her case. Some solicitors will do this on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. As such, it is reasonable to expect Ms X to resort to court action for the compensation she seeks and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the ICO is best placed to respond to what happened in respect of the data breach and Ms X can take court action for the compensation she seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman