Has a social worker leaked information and breached your confidentiality?

Usually run by local councils, social services hold large quantities of sensitive information about the people under their care. The private nature of the work they carry out means that they are required to keep to strict standards of confidentiality. If they fail to do so, perhaps if a social worker leaked information or failed to keep data secure, they may be in breach of data protection law.

Whether they are children in foster care, people with disabilities, or elderly residents of council care homes, there are thousands of people in the UK who have some form of care provided by their local authority. The integrity of social workers is generally taken for granted but there can, unfortunately, be individuals who let the good name of their profession down.

Their actions may have been accidental or intentional, but in either case, a social worker should be held accountable if they have compromised your right to privacy. By making a compensation claim, you can ensure that you achieve the justice you deserve.

Cases in which a social worker leaked information

A number of severe council data protection breaches have been reported in which a social worker leaked information relating to people under the local authority’s care. For example, South Gloucestershire children’s services reported three distinct incidents last summer, one of which involved the accidental disclosure of a foster child’s address to their birth mother.

In some cases, it may be that the social worker leaked information, either intentionally or unintentionally, but there can also be examples in which they have accessed records without appropriate authorisation. A social services data breach at Wiltshire Council reportedly led to a criminal sentence for the social worker responsible for breaching privacy, after it was found that the employee in question had looked at sensitive information which she did not have a valid reason to access.

Social services data breach claims

If you have found out that a social worker leaked information about you or compromised your right to privacy, you could be eligible to pursue a compensation claim. The tight restrictions on data access within social services means that viewing or using personal data for reasons that are not work-related can constitute a breach of data protection law.

As part of your data breach claim, you could be entitled to recover compensation for any distress that you have suffered from. We understand that the emotional impact of a social services data breach can be particularly severe for the victims, as it can often put their safety at risk, so the compensation pay-outs can often be significant for victims of incidents like these.

Make your data breach claim if a social worker leaked information

As leading specialists in data breach claims, Your Lawyers has been representing victims for privacy matters since 2014. We want to ensure that as many victims as possible can access the justice they deserve, which is why we can offer No Win, No Fee representation to eligible claimants.

No one should suffer in silence after a data breach, so contact us to receive free, no-obligation advice on your potential claim.

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