Police accessing confidential information: data breach advice

Cases where the police accessing confidential information has amounted to a data breach is not something that anyone should take lightly, and victims do have rights.

The police service and its employees will have access to a great deal of personal and sensitive data to be able to do their jobs. Access to police computer networks and files on investigations and criminal records is a requirement for many. However, like anyone else, the police and its employees must still comply with important data laws and the GDPR. Access and use of information should only be carried out when there is authority and purpose to do so.

If someone does breach data protection laws at the police service, do not worry about having no rights because you are going up against law enforcement. You do have rights, and we may be able to help you. We may also be able to offer No Win, No Fee representation for a legal case.

Compensation for police accessing confidential information

You could be eligible to claim data breach compensation for the police accessing confidential information. If the access and use is done so without a proper reason or without authority, it can constitute as a data breach.

It could be an officer looking up information about someone that they know, which is one of the more common scenarios. It could be the access of confidential data when the person accessing it does not have authority to do so. However it has happened, if authority and/or purpose is in question, it needs to be investigated. If there has been a breach, victims deserve to know who has accessed their information and how much of it has been exposed.

The law requires data breaches to be reported – when they are severe enough – to the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The victims of a data breach must also be informed as well.

If you have received confirmation or have been made aware that your personal and sensitive data has been misused or exposed by the police, you could be eligible to claim compensation. If we think that there is a case to answer, we may be able to offer to represent you for a case on a No Win, No Fee basis.

What could you claim for?

If you have been the victim of a data breach arising from the police accessing confidential information about you when they should not have done so, the GDPR is there for you to use. The law means that you could be eligible to receive compensation for the distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information. You do not have to have suffered any actual financial loss to be able to claim, and the distress alone can be substantial enough to pursue a legal case.

The nature and the volume of the data involved, and who it has been misused by and/or exposed to, are factors we can consider for data breach compensation amounts.

We represent people for police data breach compensation claims. You can speak to our team today for free, no-obligation advice by contacting the team here today.

A recent example

In a recent example of the police accessing confidential information that has led to an investigation, media coverage has detailed the case of a Northumbrian Police officer reportedly engaged in such behaviour.

It is understood that the officer allegedly accessed confidential information over 30 times whilst on duty, including for one individual on 9 separate occasions. The alleged data breaches are said to have occurred between 2016 and 2018 and may lead to the officer losing his job.

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