You could be entitled to claim privacy compensation for any medical data leaked online, and we may be able to represent you for a legal case on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Claiming compensation for medical data leaked online
You could be eligible to claim GDPR compensation for medical data leaked online, or healthcare information leaked in another setting, if your personal information has been misused or exposed. In accordance with the GDPR, we all have a right to privacy, and medical information is usually treated more seriously and can often be classed as “special category” information. This means that, from a legislative perspective, it can be afforded additional protection and recognition. This is because this type of data is precisely the kind that we want to maintain strict confidentiality over.
If medical data is leaked online, or is leaked to other persons by post, email, or in another format, the victim could be eligible to recover compensation for any distress that has been caused. Given the above about how sensitive this kind of information is, we appreciate that the distress suffered could be significant, which is recognised in any compensation pay-outs. Victims of this kind of breach could be eligible to recover thousands of pounds in damages, and our average data breach compensation settlement is just over £6,000 in damages alone, which covers the broad spectrum of cases. Healthcare data protection compensation claims can easily settle for over £10,000.
You can contact our team for free, no-obligation legal advice here now to find out if we can help you pursue a privacy compensation claim on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Ransomware and scammer targeting
Sometimes, medical data leaked online has arisen from ransomware or scammers intentionally posting information that they have stolen from databases and servers. Usually, the lead-up to this kind of incident involves the hackers demanding a ransom from the organisation that they have stolen the data from on the threat of exposing the information online unless the ransom demand is met. If the demand is not met, the hackers then may post the information online as a punishment for failing to pay the demand.
Most advice from authorities is to not pay any ransom demands that are issued, and there are no guarantees as to whether hackers will actually honour their end of an agreement even if a ransom is paid. However, the more important thing is for organisations to make sure that hackers cannot break into their systems and servers in the first place, which is about making sure that proper cybersecurity is in place at all times.
Healthcare data breach examples
There have been plenty of healthcare data breach examples in recent years. One of the most infamous examples that we have helped people with was that of the 56 Dean Street Clinic leak from 2015, in which the sensitive HIV statuses of almost 800 people were exposed. We have also represented those affected by the Greater Manchester mass snooping incident, and those affected by the NHS Digital data breach from a few years ago.
In addition to information about the group actions above, we have represented plenty of people in individual cases where healthcare information has been involved in a data breach.