Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
A recent fault in the Airbnb website has provoked worries among property hosts, who noticed a login failure that reportedly directed users to the message inboxes of other hosts. The Airbnb data glitch appears to have only been brought to the attention of the company by their users, who discussed the issue on a Reddit forum.
A popular accommodation rental marketplace for holidaymakers, Airbnb downplayed the glitch, and the amount of affected hosts was not immediately confirmed. But such a glitch is concerning as it can expose private and personal information. This can raise fair questions over the security of the company’s systems and its adherence to data protection regulations.
While Airbnb said that the glitch was a small-scale, stand-alone incident, at Your Lawyers – The Data Leak Lawyers – we know that even seemingly elementary errors can be disastrous. If an organisation ever fails to sufficiently protect your data, they may have breached the GDPR, and you could be entitled to claim compensation.
A big Newcastle City Council data leak occurred three years ago after the personal data of thousands of children and their adoptive parents was sent out in an accidental email attachment.
The email concerned a party invitation sent out to 77 people for the council’s adoption summer party, with the inclusion of an internal spreadsheet that should never have been seen by unauthorised eyes.
In a reason that has become all too common in recent council data leaks, human error was blamed for the incident. Indeed, as this explanation recurs and recurs, it raises questions about how much progress has been made in local government data protection. Further, in today’s turbulent times of coronavirus leading to us all having to adapt to a more remote way of working and living, what else needs to be done to rectify these issues.
The decision to have cosmetic surgery is often something that people prefer to keep private, sometimes due to the stigma around enhancing or altering physical appearance. However, as cosmetic surgery becomes more affordable, and the types of treatments become more varied, large amounts of client information means that a cosmetic surgery data breach can represent a tempting opportunity for hackers.
The sensitivity of the information held by cosmetic clinics undoubtedly incentivises cybercriminals who are looking to misuse data for blackmail. They may believe that victims are more likely to give in to their demands to avoid any potential embarrassment from information exposure. We know how scary and precarious this situation can be, so we are able to help eligible victims to claim compensation for the exposure of cosmetic surgery data.
Many people unfortunately fell victim to identity fraud in 2020. It was another year that has been plagued by data breaches, leaks and hacks, with an increase that was widely attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
With public awareness of identity fraud also on the rise, many consumers are increasingly concerned about their online security; and with good reason. At the Data Leak Lawyers, as a leading firm of data compensation experts, we see businesses failing to protect their customers’ data time and time again. The sheer quantity of data breaches in 2020 means that we have launched several new actions over the past year.
While large-scale data breaches are often the ones that hit the headlines, the reported Sheffield Council data breaches represent an example of how individual data breaches can build up and amount to significant information being exposed.
Over the course of 2019 and 2020, Sheffield City Council is understood to have recorded a total of 231 incidents, 92 of which were breaches involving personal data.
At the Your Lawyers – T/A the Data Leak Lawyers – we have been representing clients in privacy cases since 2014 as a leading firm of data breach compensation lawyers. We believe that councils must be held accountable for any inadequacies when it comes to data protection, so we are here to help you with council data breach compensation claims now.
A member of staff at the West Mercia Police has reportedly resigned after breaching the force’s data protection regulations.
Although the staff member in question had elected to leave her position before her misconduct hearing was held, it appears that she would have had no choice but to go in any event, as the investigation concluded that the offence necessitated dismissal.
The incident is understood to have involved the employee sharing information inappropriately with a member of the public. This was done so without authorisation and without a necessary policing reason for releasing such data.
Although the industry has, unfortunately, had quiet year in 2020, it seems this fact has not lessened their risk of travel and leisure data breaches.
Travel and leisure breaches have been prominent in the news with the revelation that companies including Expedia and Booking.com have been affected by a large-scale breach, after their partner Prestige Software failed to password-protect a database containing millions of customers’ booking details. Among the exposed details were guests’ names, phone numbers, email addresses and payment details, inducing risks of both blackmail and fraud.
As the travel and leisure industries continue to be a prime target of hackers, it is important to evaluate the scale of the impact, and to consider why these companies succumb to breaches again and again.
In today’s digital world, we often expect data breaches to occur in cyber settings. However, the risk of data leaks, loss and theft involving physical records and documents is also a cause for concern, and companies still need to be vigilant in protecting their hard material information.
Incidents involving physical records can happen a lot. The all too frequent neglect of physical records is exemplified in the case of Westbury House, a Hampshire care home that closed in 2016 after being deemed an unfit care provider.
It was reportedly found to have abandoned confidential staff and patient information in the uninhabited building. The information was only proved to have been removed and secured at the start of December, 4 years after the care home’s closure. Over the course of these years, obvious negligence could have allowed trespassers to breach the building and rifle through the files. A failure of data protection such as this cannot go unnoticed.
An employee error has recently brought about the Now: Pensions data breach, leading to the online exposure of customers’ personal details.
Now: Pensions, one of the UK’s largest pension providers, was involved in a breach of data protection duties through this leak. The result of the incident left the names, dates of birth, home addresses, and National Insurance numbers of trusting customers vulnerable to misuse.
The firm has accounted for the breach by explaining that a contractor from an external partner inadvertently uploaded the data to a public forum. Although the data was only public for a brief period of time and was removed as soon as the error was identified, the idea that the company’s procedures and systems could not protect against such a mistake is worrying.
A recent leak of patient data has called into question the data protection practices of Lloyds Pharmacy. A parcel containing the prescription records of hundreds of Lloyds pharmacy patients is believed to have been intended for an NHS recipient, but mistakenly reached a personal home 300 miles away instead.
When the unintended recipient opened the box, she was shocked at the mass of details she found, assuming they were intended for the NHS prescription services in Bolton.
While Lloyds Pharmacy has placed the blame on an external courier service who mistakenly delivered the parcel, they may not be able to sidestep their ultimate responsibility for the control and handling of their own data in accordance with the GDPR. The incident undoubtedly highlights the risks organisations take when entrusting an external party with the safety of confidential records.
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