Breach of GDPR

[shorehamite]

If a disgruntled instructor accesses student and PPL personal data for his own benefit,and contacts them promoting his new club, surely that is a breach of GDPR? who might help, our DTO inspector? or the police or the solicitor?

[Big Pistons Forever]

GDPR ?…….

[TheOddOne]

Hi shorehamite,
It might or not be an actual breach of the General Data Protection Regulation or other legal or moral infringement.
I've got all my student's phone numbers in my phone. If your (ex) instructor rings his students up and invites them to move with him, you are obliged to send the new DTO Head of Training their records.
Poaching of customers has probably been going on since Roman times or even earlier. I know it's annoying especially if you've already fallen out with the instructor and find it galling that they are trying to take away your business.
HOWEVER, those customers they do manage to persuade away might think they have good reason to go. If so, perhaps they wouldn't be happy staying with you and you're better off without them. If, later on, they find out that the instructor who left you wasn't up to much and want to come back, welcome them with open arms with no recriminations. Read the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Going the GDPR route will only cost you money and a loss of reputation.

TOO

[shorehamite]

Hi TOO,
Yes you're right, best to let it go.
I don't think we will lose anybody, some are glad he's gone, always seem to manage to turn a 60 minute lesson into 70 or 75 minutes,
The best was combining slow flight and stalling into a 1hr 40 min continuous flight, that student never came back.
Shorehamite.

[SWBKCB]

It's a breach of GDPR if he has accessed your systems to get the information for his own purposes - that's not the reason the information was recorded. If he is getting in touch with pupils who have given him their contact details, shouldn't be an issue.

The Information Commissioner's Office would be your first port of call.

[portsharbourflyer]

The CAA wouldn't intervene over CAE Oxford failing to provide Easyjet with truthful reports about a certain Cadets conduct, so I doubt the regulatory authorities would care about such a minor issue.

[shorehamite]

SWBKCB
That is indeed the case, he only knew the people via the club, and had access to their numbers for business purposes only, weather delays, cancellations etc.
not to use them for his own end. Shameless.
And whats worse he did it using a whats app message, transmitting photographs, and allowing all the members to see each other and their contacts and each others phone numbers.