The woman who received the couple’s slip along with hers handed it back to the Taxes Office to inform them of the incident.
She then posted on the 9,000 strong Facebook group, Jersey Ask! Advise! Advertise! to alert fellow islanders. Several people commented on the post with some calling the incident a “very serious data breach.” One islander commented: “Incredulous. Everyone is worried about GDPR and this is the example set!”
A couple of people also mentioned that the incident wasn’t “isolated” as it had happened to them in previous years. One woman said she received another man’s slip stapled to the back of her and her husband’s. Another man said he had a colleague’s slip in the same envelope as his, including details of the man and his wife’s financial information. The man said: “The tax office seemed quite put out when I told them it was more likely to reach him if I gave it to him at work rather than return it to them for another bash.”
The Comptroller of Taxes moved to reassure islanders that they were aware of the incident and taking all necessary steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. He said: “This rare incident is regrettable, and we can assure the public that we take taxpayer confidentiality and data protection extremely seriously. We always investigate any breach thoroughly and ensure that steps are taken to make improvements.
“We would always inform affected customers of any data breach as soon as we become aware of it and make reports where required to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Our staff have also been trained to understand and comply with the requirements of GDPR when it comes into force. We are taking steps to limit incidents such as this from occurring by undertaking a thorough end-to-end review of our processes.”
The Comptroller also thanked the islander “who acted with integrity, and returned the data to us for investigation.” He added: “In the unlikely event that this happens again, this is exactly the right action to take.”