Parish criticised for breaching data protection regulations

The Parish of Grouville has been formally criticised by Jersey’s Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC) after it mistakenly shared the personal details of the wrong individual with a debt collection agency.

The breach occurred when parish staff identified the wrong person as being in arrears on their rates due to a name mix-up.

Constable Mark Labey acknowledged the error, describing it as “an understandable mistake,” but said the parish had since strengthened its data-handling procedures.

“We assumed things – you should never assume things, that’s a lesson to start with,” he said. “Now everyone at Grouville Parish Hall is fully aware of what happened and has received additional training. It will never happen again.”

JOIC confirmed that the parish had accessed and shared the incorrect individual’s information, breaching data protection law. It has ordered Grouville to review its debt recovery processes and update its privacy policy to prevent future incidents.