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Hello,
This is my first post after my introductory post.
We are in a dispute with neighbours that involves both civil and criminal law. We are the victims in the situation. Our neighbours are sociopathic.
The issue I wish to focus on here is breach of privacy.
We had a plumber round. My mother mentioned to this plumber in very general terms our issues with the neighbours, just to make conversation. The plumber recognised who we were talking about. The plumber happens to know these people very well. He has then gone to them and apparently told them an exaggerated story of my mother's interaction with him, in which we supposedly grossly insulted them, etc. He also apparently claimed to this neighbour that I had joined in with the insults of the neighbours, when I had only said 'Hello' to him. Of course, the neighbours may be exaggerating what they have been told, but that in itself is not the issue.
The issue I have with this is that the actions of the plumber seem unprofessional and, while my mother is culpable in that she made the disclosure to him by bringing up the topic, it seems to me that she was not expecting him to use it as material for gossip and go round telling third parties, especially the neighbours themselves.
I would therefore like to look at whether we can claim compensation from the plumber - and I assume he will carry business insurance. I appreciate that in the case of private businesses, there isn't necessarily such a thing as actionable breach of privacy per se, so the issue needs to be approached tangentially. So far I am looking at breach of confidence, harassment (on the assumption that this is part of the neighbours' scheme of conduct), perhaps a breach of implied duties or warranties under the SSGSA, and maybe breach of the DPA 2018/GDPR. But I am not sure.
Does anybody have thoughts on this?
At first glance, this may seem petty, so what I need to stress is that this is part of a larger set of quite serious issues we are facing that are inter-linked. The purpose of this thread is to focus on just this one question as I need to clarify in my mind what the law is, and once I know this, I can then decide whether a claim - or threat of a claim - is viable, proportionate and practicable.
Thanks,
FS
This is my first post after my introductory post.
We are in a dispute with neighbours that involves both civil and criminal law. We are the victims in the situation. Our neighbours are sociopathic.
The issue I wish to focus on here is breach of privacy.
We had a plumber round. My mother mentioned to this plumber in very general terms our issues with the neighbours, just to make conversation. The plumber recognised who we were talking about. The plumber happens to know these people very well. He has then gone to them and apparently told them an exaggerated story of my mother's interaction with him, in which we supposedly grossly insulted them, etc. He also apparently claimed to this neighbour that I had joined in with the insults of the neighbours, when I had only said 'Hello' to him. Of course, the neighbours may be exaggerating what they have been told, but that in itself is not the issue.
The issue I have with this is that the actions of the plumber seem unprofessional and, while my mother is culpable in that she made the disclosure to him by bringing up the topic, it seems to me that she was not expecting him to use it as material for gossip and go round telling third parties, especially the neighbours themselves.
I would therefore like to look at whether we can claim compensation from the plumber - and I assume he will carry business insurance. I appreciate that in the case of private businesses, there isn't necessarily such a thing as actionable breach of privacy per se, so the issue needs to be approached tangentially. So far I am looking at breach of confidence, harassment (on the assumption that this is part of the neighbours' scheme of conduct), perhaps a breach of implied duties or warranties under the SSGSA, and maybe breach of the DPA 2018/GDPR. But I am not sure.
Does anybody have thoughts on this?
At first glance, this may seem petty, so what I need to stress is that this is part of a larger set of quite serious issues we are facing that are inter-linked. The purpose of this thread is to focus on just this one question as I need to clarify in my mind what the law is, and once I know this, I can then decide whether a claim - or threat of a claim - is viable, proportionate and practicable.
Thanks,
FS
