As the rise of technology continues to be a part of our everyday lives, it’s important to address the rights that people have to claim for a government data leak when information is misused or exposed.
No one is above the law, and the government and its employees must uphold important data protection legislation in the UK. Where they fail to do so, they can be held to account like anyone else can, and we may be able to offer No Win, No Fee representation for a legal case or action.
Here’s some brief information about how we can help. To speak to the team for free, no-obligation advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Compensation for a government data leak
You could be entitled to make a claim for compensation as a victim of a government data leak. As we said at the start of the article, no one is above the law, and our own government has the same duty to safeguard the data it stores and processes. When it fails in this legal obligation, anyone who has been affected can have the right to legal justice.
We must remember that the government will store and process a vast wealth of personal and sensitive data for millions of people. It’s required for all sorts of reasons; from immigration matters, to benefits claims, and for tax reasons.
Those who are self-employed will especially be making use of government systems where a great deal of personal and sensitive data is stored.
As such, ensuring that data breaches and leaks do not happen is essential. At the same time, government organisations are clear targets for hackers as well. Not only could they be targeted by criminals who want to exploit the information for financial gain, but we must also remember that targets from foreign threat actors are real. State-sponsored hacking has reportedly been behind a number of high-profile incidents, and it may be that the personal information for the victims could end up exposed.
We understand the impact
The impact of a government data leak can be substantial given the nature of the data that they may hold. Having dealt with a lot of cases where government and public sector authorities are involved, we understand the severe impact that a breach, leak, or hack can have on the victim.
This is why being able to claim compensation is so important. It’s also why we offer No Win, No Fee representation for data breach events where we believe that we can succeed with a case.
We assess cases where the government may be responsible for the claim in the same way as any other data breach case. Primarily, we will consider:
- If the leak was avoidable. If it was, has there been any negligence on the part of the government or an employee of the government? If so, you may have a case;
- What information has been misused or exposed? Generally speaking, the more information and the more severe it is, the bigger the impact may be.
Normally, you will claim compensation for the distress caused by the loss of control of your information. Data leak compensation values and amounts are often based on how much data is involved and how personal and sensitive it is. We can also account for the personal impact on you, which can differ from person to person.
Mass data breach events
We have represented, and still do represent, a lot of people for compensation cases that arise from a government data leak. We represent thousands of people for individual cases generally, and we also represent people in over 45 different group and multi-party actions.
A recent data leak that involved the government was the New Year’s Honour data leak that we are taking legal action for. There have also been recent reports of investigations being launched into the personal information for migrants being exposed as well.