Data breach by Social Services leads to over £13,000 in damages recovered

The leading team at Your Lawyers – The Data Leak Lawyers – were pleased to be able to secure a damages settlement well in excess of £13,000 as a result of a data breach by social services.

Your Lawyers secure over £13,000 in damages claim

When we were contacted by a concerned victim of a data breach committed by Social Services, we were able to advise them quickly that we could represent them for a legal case on a No Win, No Fee basis.

In this particularly disturbing incident, Social Services were in the midst of working on some sensitive domestic matters when they disclosed a report containing very sensitive and personal information about our client that was not relevant to the matter. Whilst we cannot go into the full details (to protect the confidentiality of our client), the information in question that was disclosed was completely irrelevant to the matter and was the sort of data that our client wanted to maintain very strict confidentiality over. In accordance with the GDPR, the data could be classed as “special category” information, which can afford it additional protection.

Because of the significance of the information, the impact on our client was substantial. Due to this, we were able to secure compensation well in excess of £13,000 for our client for the distress that they suffered from that was caused by the loss of control of their personal information.

This was an avoidable incident that should never have happened, and it served to show just how easily a significant data breach can take place when a lapse in judgement occurs.

Severity of data breaches by Social Services

The potential severity of data breaches committed by Social Services can be so significant to warrant large pay-outs such as the over £13,000 we secured in the case referenced above. Social Services will be processing and storing a significant wealth of very personal and sensitive information, and often it is precisely the kind that we want to maintain strict confidentiality over.

Any data breach committed by Social Services that has arisen from negligence could allow the victim to pursue compensation in accordance with the GDPR. We were able to do this in this particular case, and we were pleased that we were able to secure a settlement for them; although it is unfortunate that it is not possible to turn back the clock in terms of the data that was affected.

Fighting for better privacy rights

As Leading Privacy Compensation Specialists, our primary role, of course, is to help those who have been wronged in respect of data breach matters. This means that we can allow for some form of access to justice for those who have been harmed when they should not have been, but there is also the fact that we need to fight for better privacy rights.

Not only can securing compensation allow for the recovery of damages, but it could also push for better data protection compliance. Whilst there should always be a mindset in organisations to prevent before incidents occur, the consequences of a data breach can be a motivating factor to make sure that there is never a repeat of the same kind of incident. Again, whilst it should always be preventative anyway, our work helps to make sure that greater punishment is issued to those who breach important privacy laws.

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