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.
There has been news of a West Berkshire Council data leak that appears to be another incident of accidental disclosure by email.
According to Newbury News, an investigation into the data breach has been launched, with one person who was a victim of the incident said to be “shocked” at what has happened.
A huge number of the individual cases that we take forward are for council data breach compensation claims. They can be worryingly common, and the impact for victims can be severe given that local government authorities often hold a great deal of personal and sensitive information about a lot of people.
The risks when it comes to a local council data breach event are incredibly high. One of the primary types of cases that we take forward involve local government authorities and agencies, so we can tell you from experience that they’re worryingly common.
There are many reasons as to why council data breach compensation claims are so common. There are a lot of doorways to data in the public sector, and there’s a wealth of information that’s being stored and processed by local governments. The nature of the information they store and process usually covers the whole spectrum: from personal, to financial, and to medical.
Victims of a council data breach can be entitled to compensation, and it’s important that victims if an incident understand their rights.
In an age where many local authorities risk data breaches because of a lack of preventative measures, what can victims whose information is misused do about it?
We can’t force local authorities and the agents who work on their behalf to improve their behaviour and help to stop breaches, leaks and hacks. We can’t force them to invest in better technology and qualified staff to ensure their systems are safe and secure.
What we can do is ensure that victims can make a claim for council data breach compensation which acts as a punishment and a deterrent. It also ensures that victims can obtain justice as well, which is something that a GDPR fine doesn’t encompass.
The act of unlawfully accessing personal data can land the offender in a lot of trouble, and it can pave the way for the victims to make a claim for data breach compensation.
Your rights are enshrined in law, and if your rights to information privacy are ever breached, you can be entitled to take legal action. In today’s digital age where information access and sharing are achievable at the click of a button, there’s a wealth of data for millions of people that can be accessed by many individuals.
But people can only access and process information where they’re authorised to do so and have a legitimate reason to do so. Any access of personal data that isn’t done so in accordance with important data legislation can be unlawful. We can represent victims who wish to take a case forward on a No Win, No Fee basis.
The misuse of police computer systems is a cause for concern, and it’s understood that the Police in England and Wales are having to deal with a number of internal disciplinaries over the issue.
Incidents include staff and police accessing databases to look at information improperly, and even cases where information is reportedly being passed to criminals. When you consider that the police are responsible for processing and storing a wealth of potentially personal and sensitive information about millions of people, the impact for the victim of data misuse or exposure can be significant.
Victims do have rights and can be eligible to make a claim for data breach compensation. No one is above the law, and all organisations – including the police – must abide by important data protection rules.
News of a victim support data breach has been published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has led to a caseworker being prosecuted.
It’s reported that Restorative Justice Caseworker, Jeannette Baines, who had worked with victim support, sent personal and private information from a work email address to a personal email address.
This kind of breach where employees misuse their rights of access to personal data to send it to personal accounts isn’t uncommon. Many of the ICO’s individual prosecutions involve this kind of breach being committed, and the consequences for the offender can be severe.
A senior nurse caught snooping on medical records has reportedly been suspended in yet another case of an NHS employee abusing their rights of information access.
Carol Anne Rodda, in her capacity working for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust data breach, has reportedly been suspended for 12 months for a number of breaches. A number of the medical records data breach compensation claims we take forward involve healthcare employees improperly accessing information, so we know how bad these kinds of incidents can be.
There have been a number of occasions where the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been forced to take action against staff for snooping. The ICO has also had to issue warnings because of so many instances of it happening.
A number of Leicestershire police data breach incidents have been reported in the news recently. Police data breaches are always worrying, so it’s concerning to learn of these incidents.
With public sector data breaches often topping the charts in terms of the volumes of individual cases we take forward, this is a serious matter. The police computers and databases hold a wealth of incredibly personal and sensitive data about millions of people. In the wrong hands, leaks and misuse of such information can be severe for the victims.
Right now, we’re representing people who are claiming data breach compensation as victims of police incidents. News of the prosecutions and investigations into a number of incidents that stem from the Leicestershire force is concerning.
You may be entitled to make a claim for compensation if you are the victim of a human error data breach incident.
In fact, some of the biggest group action and individual cases we’re fighting for justice in were caused by simple human errors. Many of the human errors committed are preventable, and it’s this key factor that means you can be entitled to make a claim.
Don’t assume that you can’t claim because a person is responsible (or partially responsible) for a data breach. The organisations who employee people can be vicariously liable for the actions of their employee. This means that the blame can be squarely with the employer!
There are huge risks when it comes to Healthcare staff data breach incidents. A large volume of the data breach cases we take forward involve the healthcare sector.
That’s why we’re not surprised that a recent study suggested that more than half of data breach incidents in the healthcare industry are reportedly caused by staff themselves. Whether it’s a direct human error that has led to a breach, or staff abusing their powers, it’s the employees themselves that remain such a huge risk for organisations.
Even hacks and cyber attacks can be linked back to staff as well. An easy example is staff falling victim to phishing scams and their user credentials being compromised and then abused by criminals.
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