LANCASTER, England, May 15 (UPI) -- A professor at England's Lancaster University has been reprimanded after he shared information on a student's progress with his mother.

Geraint Johnes shared information with Jackie Gardner after she complained that her son, Christian, wasn't making enough progress toward his economics degree and was "quite addicted to alcohol, smokes and has spent a great deal of time over the last nine months asleep," The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Johnes sought to reassure Gardner by sharing her son's study modules and telling her about regular meetings he had with the student.

However, Christian Gardner, 18, complained that he hadn't given permission for his information to be shared.

"Given the seriousness of the accusations raised by Mr. Gardner's mother, I do accept that you felt you had to respond to her in some way," Andrew Okey, Lancaster's data protection officer, said in a letter to Johnes.

"However faced with this requirement you should have: i) gained Mr. Gardner's explicit consent to disclose his details to Mrs. Gardner; or ii) answered Mrs. Gardner's concerns only in generic terms," Okey said in the letter, which also warned the professor that he could face dismissal if there is another data breach, The Daily Mail report said.