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.
It is no secret that we live in a world of the increasing risk of cyber threats affecting us all, and it is vital that victims whose personal information has been exposed or misused know what to do.
We are Your Lawyers – The Data Leak Lawyers – and we specialise in representing people for privacy compensation cases. We have been doing so for almost a decade, which means that our experience makes us a leading firm in this niche and complex area of law. Our proven track record of having recovered over £1m in damages for mostly singular cases, representing thousands of clients right now, means that our clients benefit from real experience. This can help us to achieve data breach compensation pay-outs that are better for our clients, with our average standing at just over £6,000 per settled case in damages alone.
A recent report was published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after the UK regulator looked into Home Office data protection matters.
These kinds of audits are key to ensuring that organisations are upholding the law and ensuring that people are protected at all times. As Leading Data Leak Lawyers, we know all too well how badly people can suffer when the law is broken, having been specialising in this niche area of law for almost a decade.
At the start of the year, the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), issued a report highlighting concerns in respect of Greater Manchester Police data practises.
A number of alarming findings appear to have been made, and the overall headline is that the ICO has little assurance in respect of the force being able to ensure that data protection law is complied with in some areas. Given that the police must store and process a significant wealth of very personal and sensitive information, the report makes for concerning reading.
No one is above the law, and this includes the police. Victims can be eligible to claim data breach compensation when it is the police at fault for a breach, and we can help.
Due to a number of Ministry of Justice data protection issues, it has been reported that the UK data regulator, the ICO, has now published Enforcement Action against the MoJ.
In a recent publication from the ICO (the Information Commissioner’s Office), it was confirmed that the Ministry of Justice was in contravention of vital data protection legislation. The reason cited was due to their failure to provide, with “undue delay”, copies of information for a staggering 7,753 data subjects.
It has been reported that a Clearview AI fine in the sum of £17m is being considered by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over allegations that serious data breaches have occurred.
The issue is about the collection of public images and how they have been used by the company as part of facial recognition technology that it offers. The ICO has suggested that the processing of the public information may not be as expected by data subjects, and it may be deemed as unfair. The company disputes that they have done anything wrong and has pointed out that the images they use are already available in the public domain.
This could be a substantial fine if it is issued, and the question over whether the data processing of the information in question was lawful or not could be a contentious one.
Leading Data and Privacy Law firm Your Lawyers have been concerned to learn of an investigation into plans to sell Covid test samples for medical research.
The news was broken in November 2021, and reportedly involves Cignpost Diagnostics, trading as ExpressTest, who are understood to have conducted almost three million tests. It has been suggested that there are plans by the company to analyse samples from swabs and sell data to third parties, according to inews.
The private company is an approved provider of testing, and it has been reported that the company is now being investigated by the UK’s data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). There was understood to be a tick box as part of the purchasing process for the test that formed as part of a large privacy policy with links to a research programme. This is understood to have since been removed and appears to be the matter at the centre of the investigation.
The Cabinet Office has been issued with a penalty in the sum of £500,000 for the 2020 New Year Honours data breach, an incident that we have resolved legal action for.
The fine has been issued by the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is intended to act as a punishment for what has happened. Such penalties can also act as a deterrent against future events.
We are pleased to see that regulatory action has now concluded. The fine is a separate matter to private legal action that victims of the data leak can be entitled to pursue. We have already resolved legal action that we have taken, having been instructed to act in the wake of the event, and this fine further cements that victims could be entitled to pursue a claim for compensation.
As patients, we trust that our data is held securely by healthcare organisations, and that medical professionals will only access and use our information when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, hospital data snooping does occur, as some healthcare staff view patient information without authorisation or consent.
Whether intentional or unintentional, data snooping is a practice that all healthcare staff must steer clear of, particularly due to the sensitivity of medical records. It is understandably worrying for victims to learn that their information has been subjected to unauthorised access, as there could be malicious intent behind the user’s actions. When healthcare staff abuse or take advantage of their data access privileges in this way, it can constitute a breach of data protection law.
If you believe that your privacy has been violated in this way, you could be eligible to claim compensation for the harm caused. Contact us for free, no-obligation advice now if you think you may have a claim to make.
A Chorley Council data breach has recently been reported after it was revealed that thousands of members of the public may have had their details exposed by the local authority. The incident appears to be yet another example of the damage that can be done to information security when employees make misjudgements.
Unfortunately, the incident at Chorley Council is only one in a long list of data breaches to have been caused by human error at local government bodies generally. Councils like Chorley should be striving to break with this trend, but there has unfortunately been little progress in terms of data protection it seems.
In the UK, all third-party data controllers are obliged to comply with the GDPR in their protection of the information that they hold and process. If they fail to do so, they can be held accountable, and those affected may have a right to make a compensation claim.
In June 2018, Ticketmaster revealed that a security incident had affected its website, causing the personal information of customers to be exposed. Discovered on 23rd June, the information was exposed due to the actions of an external hacker, but questions were raised regarding how far the incident had been caused by Ticketmaster’s own alleged negligence. We began taking on claims soon after the breach was announced, and we are now running our Ticketmaster data group action to ensure that those affected can receive the compensation that they deserve.
The breach has potentially demonstrated how insufficient cybersecurity could be responsible for mass information exposure. Thousands of customers had sensitive payment details exposed as a result of what we understand to be a system vulnerability, so we believe that Ticketmaster must answer for what has happened.
If you have been affected by this data breach, you can contact our team to find out if you have a compensation claim to make.
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