Concerns have been raised over a spate of Cornwall Council data protection breach incidents, leading to worries over the safety of data in their hands.
The recent email data breach was one incident that was raised in council meetings. On top of that, there have been incidents of data loss, data leaks and councillors being hacked.
With the degree of sensitive and personal information that councils hold, any council data breach can be a serious one. Cornwall Council isn’t the only local authority with data protection headaches. The new GDPR is set to only make things tougher; and rightly so.
Cornwall Council data protection breach incidents prompts action
A number of recent Cornwall Council data protection breach incidents have prompted action from the local authority.
According to recent information, they suffered 200 data losses in the last year. This was amongst a number of leaks and hacks as well.
One of the most common forms of data breaches was leaks from email and post. Simple cases of emailing the wrong person or posting information to the wrong person.
When you consider the fact that local authorities hold a lot of personal and sensitive data about us, these leaks can be serious. From social care records to medical and income information, this data in the wrong hands can be dangerous and distressing.
Hackers blamed for Cornwall Council data protection breach incidents
A number of Cornwall Council data protection breach incidents have been blamed on hackers.
Councillors have reportedly had email accounts broken into, leading to emails being auto-forward elsewhere. Again, with the sort of data they hold, and may email, victims are at serious risk of suffering a problematic data breach.
Some council staff are said to have fallen victim to email phishing scams. Others have had their accounts hacked as a result of poor passwords.
This usually means systems and procedures, and staff training, simply aren’t good enough.
What can you do as a victim of a Cornwall Council data protection breach?
If you have been the victim of a Cornwall Council data protection breach, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
We deal with a lot of council data breach cases. They can be common, and with the nature of the data they hold, they’re often severe for the victim.
We offer No Win, No Fee representation for a council data breach.