Am I being a snow-flake?

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Hi,

So I ordered a calendar for a sick and frail loved-one. The order took 2 weeks extra to arrive. It arrived today. I found pictures of random toddlers in it. I contacted the company straight away. They did the usual I am sorry for your experience and we will send you a new calendar free of charge. I notified them that photos of children are classified as sensitive materials under GDPR. I asked them to confirm that they would notify the other involved party that their images had been erroneously shared with an unknown third party. I also asked them to disclose if my images had been shared, as they include pictures of children also. They said “but our customers always just send back the calendar”. I asked them would they be performing a risk assessment. They ignored this. This also breaches child protection. All I want is that they look into their procedures for handling sensitive materials and report a risk assessment to the data-commissioner. I hate the idea of potential creeps getting the photos of kids, and do not feel that this should happen.

It is their oblivion to data protection, and the fact that these images are dear and personal that annoyed me most.


My best-friend says that I am a snow-flake and get over it.

What is the boards opinion?

Thanks Guys!

Mike3549

Omg, what did i just read. You are overreacting, way OTT, obviously those pics of toddlers had their parents permission and so on, and i think thats not how GDPR works. And you should return the item if you are getting a replacement, just because you dont like, it doesnt mean you can keep it for free

blue note

Complete overreaction. The company made an innocent, honest mistake. You should apologise to them for reacting like that.

And I'm 100% serious, no-one should have to put up with listening to all of that. Takes balls to admit you were wrong, but if I was in that company I'd respect you if you did apologise. Whereas now I'd be telling people about this a$$hole customer I had to deal with.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Watch some Karen videos on youtube, that's you!

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Gavin Chubby Asteroid wrote: »

Watch some Karen videos on youtube, that's you!

I am not a woman

I don't think the above posters realise that these are customised calenders. The customer sends their pictures and the calander is printed using these. The OP received someone else's calander with their family photos. And OP is concerned that their own personal photos may have been sent in calander form to another person.

I would continue to annoy the hell out of the company, they don't seem to be taking this very seriously, when it's a pretty amazingly stupid mess up. They sound like they need to cop on to themselves, not the OP!

TheadoreT

You're creating issues where there is none. Mistakes happen all the time, they promptly rectified it by saying they'll ship your actual calendar out... move on.

Tork

Child protection? It'd be one thing if you were sent pics of child porn or something but you weren't. They're just random toddlers who I assume look just like every other toddler out there. You don't know who they are where they live?

Speak Now

Is this a joke? Just send back the calendar.

Vangoghslow

Yes.

blue note

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think the above posters realise that these are customised calenders. The customer sends their pictures and the calander is printed using these. The OP received someone else's calander with their family photos. And OP is concerned that their own personal photos may have been sent in calander form to another person.

I would continue to annoy the hell out of the company, they don't seem to be taking this very seriously, when it's a pretty amazingly stupid mess up. They sound like they need to cop on to themselves, not the OP!

I realised. It was a mistake and as long as they apologised and tried to fix it I'd be fine about it.

I'm my opinion the OP should apologise to the calendar company for reacting as he or she did. Completely out of proportion to their mistake.

frag420

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

I am not a woman

Ok Ken...

KathleenGrant

I don't think you are being a snowflake at all. The most precious things in our lives are our children and i wouldn't like to think of pictures of my children/grandchildren being sent to people i didn't know. It's not like I'd lose sleep about it but i don't think it would sit right with me.

Purple Mountain

It's bad production, not a child protection alarm bells issue.
Facebook, Instagram etc are all full of innocent pictures of kids, adults etc. It's no different than you viewing someone else's account online and seeing other children.
I'd absolutely take the offer of the free replacement and probably wouldn't use them again but it's just a mistake.
Send back the calendar, look for the cost of return postage, got your replacement and move on.

Plumbthedepths

You should have listened to your friend.

9db3xj7z41fs5u

There were normal pictures of my family (some under 12) on the beach in their togs. I would just like clarification that these pictures have been sent back to the company, and this doesn’t happen again. I don’t know who now possesses the images.

I have sent back the calendar. I do not know who has my calendar

I just don’t want this to happen for other families

eviltwin

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

There were normal pictures of my family (some under 12) on the beach in their togs. I would just like clarification that these pictures have been sent back to the company, and this doesn’t happen again. I don’t know who now possesses the images.

I just don’t want this to happen for other families

If you are so worried about the content of the photos you sent why would you use them in the first place

A mistake was made, it happens. What exactly do you want this company to do?

9db3xj7z41fs5u

eviltwin wrote: »

If you are so worried about the content of the photos you sent why would you use them in the first place

A mistake was made, it happens. What exactly do you want this company to do?

They were just normal beach photos of my family together that my loved-one would love (she was a beach lifeguard in her youth and gave us all a love of the beach). I did not expect them to be sent to a random person

They cannot change what happened. I just want them to acknowledge that they will look into their handling of pictures of kids and come up with a procedure to reduce the risk of the images being sent to the wrong person in future. I also want to know if my family pictures were returned to the company

The lady that I dealt with was lovely and I gave her good feedback. I just don’t want my personal family pics being sent astray.

I don’t care about the replacement calendar (it won’t arrive in time for Christmas now). From reading her response, she told me that this happens fairly regularly. That is why I was annoyed

triona1

Id be more concerned about where your calendar with your pictures went 😮

ted1

Without seen the images I find everyone’s reaction to be puzzling.
No one knows the intimacy of the photos used by either the OP or the toddlers parents.

As a company that would handle very personal and intimate photos I find their Reaction concerning. They have legal obligations to report such incidents. It’s part of everyday business.

How is this hard to understand? The company aren't taking this seriously, the comment that "customers always send the calenders back" is hardly reassuring that they're taking their mistake seriously and intend to take measures to stop it happening again. In fact it sounds like they don't even feel they've done anything wrong. I'd want the company to at least act like they'll review their procedures and maybe be a little more efficient. If nothing else it's a pain in the hole having to send the calender back and wait for the one you ordered. It's not like the OP is threatening to take them to court.

Bubbaclaus

The only result of escalating a complaint about this will be someone in the company getting fired for an innocent error.

9db3xj7z41fs5u

I don’t know whether to tell my family about the incident. Since it is their children in the pictures, I think that they have a right to know. I basically gathered our family WhatsApp pics, and made them into a calendar because my loved-one has cognitive impairment, and I thought that this would put a smile on her face. Now I feel stupid and wish that I got her some nice chocolates instead

ted1

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

The only result of escalating a complaint about this will be someone in the company getting fired for an innocent error.

Or the company put in place policies so they don’t make such f@@k ups.

If the policies aren’t in a pace then they can’t really be fired.
The company could be fined for failing to report GDPR breaches

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

The only result of escalating a complaint about this will be someone in the company getting fired for an innocent error.

I agree. But this is not the employee’s fault at all! This is a problem with company procedure. They had a turnover of 180 million last year (they are not some small business aiming to make a living). They can afford to do a risk assessment. The poor employee was probably working a long day for pittance. The fact is that it happens regularly, the company is the one at fault

Bubbaclaus

ted1 wrote: »

Or the company put in place policies so they don’t make such f@@k ups.

If the policies aren’t in a pace then they can’t really be fired.
The company could be fined for failing to report GDPR breaches

I don't think GDPR would apply here, unless you can point me to the exact part of the regulation that does, which I may have overlooked?

Jequ0n

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

I don’t know whether to tell my family about the incident. Since it is their children in the pictures, I think that they have a right to know. I basically gathered our family WhatsApp pics, and made them into a calendar because my loved-one has cognitive impairment, and I thought that this would put a smile on her face. Now I feel stupid and wish that I got her some nice chocolates instead

And what good would that do?
So you can all scream at each other in panic over potentially nothing?
Just get a paper calendar, print off photos, glue them in and move on.

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

I don't think GDPR would apply here, unless you can point me to the exact part of the regulation that does, which I may have overlooked?

Childrens’ pictures (as distinct from adults’ pictures) are considered sensitive materials under GDPR. That is why the schools ask us fill in so much paperwork about using the kids’ images now

Jequ0n

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

I agree. But this is not the employee’s fault at all! This is a problem with company procedure. They had a turnover of 180 million last year (they are not some small business aiming to make a living). They can afford to do a risk assessment. The poor employee was probably working a long day for pittance. The fact is that it happens regularly, the company is the one at fault

You don’t know if it happens regularly, the employee might just have tried to calm you down

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Jequ0n wrote: »

You don’t know if it happens regularly, the employee might just have tried to calm you down

I maintained my politeness throughout. I do not think that taking it out on some innocent employee would have helped the situation. I just asked her to confirm for me would they perform a risk assessment and could they confirm if my pictures had been sent to the wrong person/would they notify the other person about the mistake. She said “but people just normally send us back the calendar” (As in they send it back and leave it at that. I already did send the calendar back). She said that she could not answer my questions. She was sweet and said that she had nieces and would be upset if it happened to them. I thanked her and asked for it to be escalated to the relevant department. I gave her 10/10 feedback, because she did all that she could within her remit

Tork

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

I don’t know whether to tell my family about the incident. Since it is their children in the pictures, I think that they have a right to know. I basically gathered our family WhatsApp pics, and made them into a calendar because my loved-one has cognitive impairment, and I thought that this would put a smile on her face. Now I feel stupid and wish that I got her some nice chocolates instead

I've heard of mums and dads being confronted by other parents just because they took photos of their own kids in playgrounds and play areas. I'm all for protecting children from predators but there is nothing inherently dodgy about children in their own right.

Other people's photos are the most uninteresting thing on the planet if you don't know anybody in them. If somebody else has ended up with your photos, what exactly do you think they'll do with them? I'd say they mostly would want a refund

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Tork wrote: »

I've heard of mums and dads being confronted by other parents just because they took photos of their own kids in playgrounds and play areas. I'm all for protecting children from predators but there is nothing inherently dodgy about children in their own right.

Other people's photos are the most uninteresting thing on the planet if you don't know anybody in them. If somebody else has ended up with your photos, what exactly do you think they'll do with them? I'd say they mostly would want a refund

I just don’t like not knowing who has those photos. They are a UK group. It may have gone to somebody in England. Most likely, they will not be sent to anybody with nefarious intent. Sadly, there is a very small but very sick minority of people.

The bottom line for me is that I don’t like losing control of my personal family pics (they are not on any form of social media).

I didn’t ask for the refund, as I am sure that they are sending me a new calendar.

Jimmy Bottlehead

OP, you asked "am I being a snowflake?" and when the overwhelming response has been "yes", you've argued with it.

Fine. You're entitled to react or overreact as you see fit, but you're wasting people's time asking a question you don't want an actual honest answer to, unless it suits your perception.

Tork

Why would sick people want clothed photos of kids? Serious question.

timetogo1

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

Childrens’ pictures (as distinct from adults’ pictures) are considered sensitive materials under GDPR. That is why the schools ask us fill in so much paperwork about using the kids’ images now

With your school you have photo + location.
With a random photo on a calendar how can that be used to identify or locate a child?

Barbara Fresh Vender

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

There were normal pictures of my family (some under 12) on the beach in their togs. I would just like clarification that these pictures have been sent back to the company, and this doesn’t happen again. I don’t know who now possesses the images.

I have sent back the calendar. I do not know who has my calendar

I just don’t want this to happen for other families

Do you have Facebook?

9db3xj7z41fs5u

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Do you have Facebook?

No. Nor do I have Twitter. You cannot find me on Google unless you know my specific affiliations

Augme

What do you care about being a snowflake. Either report them or move on.

Jequ0n

Bottom line is you don’t know and will never find out or get an answer, so why wreck your head?
What tells you that the people putting together the calendars are not having a particular interest in the pics you sent in?
Or if they sell them on, or trade....or if the connection you sent them by was secure?

You realise that you end down in a downward spiral if you let your mind jump to lots of worse case scenarios?

If you are so easily rattled then don’t use services like this again, mistakes can happen and you will never have total security

radiotrickster

I’d probably be called a snowflake myself, but I think you’re within your right to complain and want them to ensure you they’ll try stop it happening again. It’s just weird to think of someone else having the calendar with your photos, and it’s a GDPR breach so they should definitely take it more seriously.

Dee01

I think you're 100% right. There's no way I'd want my pictures out there with some randomers. And the fact they daud that everyone else just sends them back is mega worrying and had completely changed my mind about using these sites. How often does this happen like?!?!

SusieBlue

All they are obliged to do is acknowledge your complaint, they are under no obligation to change any of their policies or procedures just because you think they should, or prove they have done a risk assessment.
They don’t have to justify themselves at all to you.
They don’t have to disclose the results of whatever internal enquiry you are trying to force on them, if they even have one.
You aren’t entitled to make those kinds of demands on them.

By all means contact the Gardaí if you think any laws have been broken or any children or in imminent danger, besides that all you can do is voice your concerns and move on with your life.

It sounds more like a case of poor customer service than a child protection issue to me, though.

LegacyUser

A calendar is used hung on the wall, visible to those that pass by. Do you take the calendar off the wall and hide it if someone comes to visit?

What risk assessment are your demanding? What do you hope the outcome of the risk assessment will be?

Barbara Fresh Vender

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

I don’t know whether to tell my family about the incident. Since it is their children in the pictures, I think that they have a right to know. I basically gathered our family WhatsApp pics, and made them into a calendar because my loved-one has cognitive impairment, and I thought that this would put a smile on her face. Now I feel stupid and wish that I got her some nice chocolates instead

did you ask for your family's permission before gathering up images of their kids into this product? Did they consent to have a third party handle these pictures etc.

You can go down as many rabbit holes as you like on this, it's a pointless exercise though, imo.

I'm sure the calendar when you get it will be a lovely gift to your relation, it's a nice thing to have.

ManOfMystery

IMO it was a tad overzealous.

A clerical mistake due to human error is part and parcel of life. We aren't robots.

If we were dealing with a life & death situation such as an anaesthetist's error leading to the wrong presciption of drugs, of course they should be lambasted - but it wasn't a scenario like that. They sent out some photos of kids - clothed - with no identifying names or addresses. There is minimal or no risk here. There are numerous other scenarios in daily life where a similar situation could occur - photos wrongly posted to social media, school photos mixed up, etc.

It is not feasible - nor should it be normalised to an extent that it's expected - to carry out risk assessments for every single situation that may or may not occur. Personally, I feel it's yet another symptom of a modern society increasingly obsessed with accountability and adding yet more red tape where it's not really required.

I would encourage the OP and more people in general to exercise their other option - move on and forget about it.

B.A._Baracus

Op, mistakes happen. That's life.
No need to continue contacting them unless what you are really gearing up for is 'compensation'

All this talk of risk assessment ...
Company makes millions a year...
An individual should not be responsible but the company...

I'm getting a whiff of it right now :pac:

9db3xj7z41fs5u

I certainly don’t need their money. I make my own money the honest way.

Big Bag of Chips

Barbara Fresh Vender wrote: »

There were normal pictures of my family (some under 12) on the beach in their togs.

Was the beach a private beach? If not then the children were in togs in a public place and anyone on the beach could have taken a photo of them either directly or inadvertently.

You overreacted.

Although I'd say you gave the office staff a bit of light relief on what was probably a busy day!

9db3xj7z41fs5u

Rubberchikken wrote: »

Of course you are.
You're probably melting as I type.

Fgs get a life. mistakes are made every day. Raising them to an abnormal level when they don't deserve it is exhausting.

I am crying as I read this message. How could a stranger that I never met with a different opinion to me be so mean? I think that if you get upset by things that people say on a messaging forum, then you must not have real problems.

I understand that they made a mistake. It was how they failed to look into it or acknowledge the data protection issues that bothered me. I checked with my colleague who is a GDPR-officer. They were in breach and he said that they should notify within 72h. And their mistake does not fall under the household exemption, unlike the other cited messages

Big Bag of Chips

So, what's your plan now, then?

I assume you have cancelled your order and asked them to delete all copies of the photos from their servers.

Antares35

OP do you realise that data breaches don't necessarily have to be reported to those affected? It's only where there will be an impact to the rights and freedoms of a natural person, for example discrimination, financial or social hardship, defamation etc.