Victims of council data protection failures could be eligible to recover GDPR compensation and we may be able to represent you for a legal case on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Your Lawyers, as Leading Data Leak Specialists helping victims of privacy matters in England and Wales, could help you to recover thousands of pounds in compensation. Get started by contacting our team for free, no-obligation legal help here now.
Claim compensation for council data protection failures
You could be eligible to claim compensation for council data protection failures, which may include recovering damages for any distress that has been caused by the loss of control of your personal information.
The GDPR gives us the right to privacy, which means that we can control who knows what about us. If this important and fundamental right is breached, we may feel angry, worried, stressed, and anxious about the fact that people now know information about us that we did not want them to know. If that happens, that is when you could be eligible to use the GDPR to pursue compensation for any distress that has been suffered.
Contrary to what some people may think, you do not have to have lost any money or paid out any expenses to pursue a GDPR claim. The vast majority of people recover compensation just for the distress alone, and our average settlement (which is mainly for distress claims) is just over £6,000 for mostly individual cases. If we believe that there is a case to answer, we can offer No Win, No Fee legal representation as part of our commitment to access to justice.
You can find out if we may be able to help you pursue a legal case for any council data protection failures by contacting our legal team for free, no-obligation legal advice here now.
The role of the ICO in privacy matters
As we have said above, we privacy lawyers are here to make sure that victims of a data breach can recover compensation. Our work is separate to the work conducted by the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). What the ICO can do is issue enforcement action against an organisation for any privacy breaches. When it comes to council data protection failures, they could issue fines or issue general enforcement action for any problems that arise.
For example, the ICO recently publicised that it had issued enforcement action against Shropshire Council, reportedly as a result of poor handling in respect of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. The ICO said that it was a backlog in respect of the Freedom of Information requests that the local authority was dealing with, which is an example of what the ICO may do in respect of any action that they can take.
It will now be down to Shropshire Council to change its ways and make sure that it can comply with the GDPR better in future.
Importance of local authority cybersecurity
Local authority cybersecurity measures must be a real focus to make sure that it is not easy for hackers to gain access to swathes of very sensitive and personal information. Councils are clear targets for cyberattacks, so those in charge must do all they can to make sure that policies, practices, procedures, and systems are in place to defend against any leak or exposure of information.
It may only take one flaw in a cybersecurity system and thousands of people could fall victim to a very serious data breach. If you have been affected by a local authority cybersecurity matter, you could be eligible to claim, and you can speak to our team for free advice here now.