Council payment data breaches

Councils are often in possession of extensive personal information pertaining to their employees and their residents. Often, councils keep sensitive information belonging to residents in receipt of benefit payments, or to those who have made payments to them, whether this is for a parking fine or for council tax. Council payment data breaches can arise when any information relating to payments to or from residents is exposed.

The wealth of information available at councils can make them prime targets for hackers, but it also means that any human error data breaches caused by employees can have severe implications. For the victims, data exposure can provoke an emotional and financial impact, which is why we help those affected to claim compensation for the harm caused to them.

Each and every third-party data controller has a duty to protect the data entrusted to their care, and they can be held accountable under the law when this duty is neglected. Your Lawyers, as leading data protection lawyers,  know what it takes to hold organisations to justice.

Data exposure relating to council payments

A data breach at a council can lead to severe damage that can be caused when payment information is put at risk. It can easily happen, from mass emails sent out to free school meals claimants, or data being accidentally uploaded online. Though some emails and internet information upload can be routine, where senders fail to anonymise email addresses or information, it could lead to hundreds or even thousands of incidents of data exposure.

With human errors such as these making up a huge majority of data breaches, it is an unfortunate fact that things like email errors and misdirected letters expose personal information held by councils all too frequently.

The cost of council payment data breaches

The exposure of personal data such as email addresses, home addresses and phone numbers is bad enough, but council payment data breaches can cause even greater harm by exposing financial details. As a result, cybercriminals may probably no longer have to use indirect methods of fraud, such as scam calls and phishing emails. Instead, they may be able to go straight to the source, targeting your bank accounts directly.

Even if your card details are partially redacted, there may still be a substantial risk involved in the exposure of your payment data.

If you have been involved in a data breach and you have noticed unauthorised payments on your accounts, it is vital that you contact your bank immediately to cancel your card or block further transactions, and seek further advice from them ASAP.

Make a council data breach compensation claim

Council payment data breaches are completely unacceptable given that those in receipt of payments from the council are often in disadvantaged situations already. It can be dangerous for anyone to be exposed to any financial risks, but those who are vulnerable could be harmed even more.

We can help any victims of council payment data breaches to claim the compensation they deserve. Fortunately, the GDPR can entitle those affected by data breaches to claim for any financial losses and expenses the breach has caused, as well as for the distress suffered.

To find out if you may have a claim to make, simply contact our team to receive free, no-obligation advice regarding your case.

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