You can be entitled to make a claim for compensation as a victim of a council data leak, and we can represent you on a No Win, No Fee basis for a case.
Council data protection compensation cases are one of the more common types of individual cases that we take forward. They can cover a range of local authority departments, and this can include schools and social services.
The impact of a council data incident can be substantial given the nature of the information they hold. In fact, data breach compensation amounts in these kinds of cases can be high when we see particularly personal and sensitive data misused or exposed. It’s important for victims to know their rights!
The many ways it can happen
There are many ways in which a council data leak can take place. As they store and process the data for tens of thousands of people, one leak could expose the information for a large group of people.
Examples can include:
- Accidentally publishing information online or publishing more information than was required. An example could be a planning application, where information is commonly placed online – but not anything personal and sensitive;
- Documents accessible in a public area of a website instead of a private area;
- Private areas that should require login credentials to be used being accessible due to poor security infrastructure;
- Email leaks like a mass email being sent where recipients’ information is visible;
- Postal leaks where mail is sent to the wrong recipient.
It can be so easy for this kind of leak to take place, and the damage that can be caused can be substantial – and irreversible.
The dangers of a council data leak
The dangers and the impact on the victims of a council data leak can be substantial. Councils and local authorities hold a great deal of data about people, and some of it can be incredibly personal and sensitive.
It could include:
- The usual personal and contact data;
- Financial and employment information that’s required for council tax reasons;
- Medical data which may be needed for benefits and assistance needs;
- Sensitive domestic information used by social services;
- Safeguarding data or data that could raise a safeguarding issue if exposed.
A social services data leak, as one example, can be serious and these are cases we deal with quite a lot; many of which we have successfully settled. It only takes one file to be leaked and it could contain confidential adoption information that could cause serious harm and distress to the victims.
What to do
If you have been the victim of a council data leak, you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation with us on a No Win, No Fee basis.
All you need to do to find out if you can claim with us today is contact our team for a free, no-obligation assessment. We can normally tell you right away if we can take your case forward, and if you want to go ahead today then we can get a case started and set up in one simple phone call.
As THE Data Leak lawyers – the original and only – we’ve been fighting for the rights of data leak victims for far longer than most other firms. Our experience speaks for itself, and we’re committed to an honest approach when it comes to who we are and what we do. Be careful when you see marketing claims from other firms about their experience and who they are, as we’re seeing increasing numbers of false statements being made.
People need to be wary, and we recommend you avoid firms that make misleading statements.