Local authorities risk data breaches – what can victims do?

In an age where many local authorities risk data breaches because of a lack of preventative measures, what can victims whose information is misused do about it?

We can’t force local authorities and the agents who work on their behalf to improve their behaviour and help to stop breaches, leaks and hacks. We can’t force them to invest in better technology and qualified staff to ensure their systems are safe and secure.

What we can do is ensure that victims can make a claim for council data breach compensation which acts as a punishment and a deterrent. It also ensures that victims can obtain justice as well, which is something that a GDPR fine doesn’t encompass.

How do local authorities risk data breaches?

Many local authorities risk data breaches through a lack of policies and procedures to tackle the problem and ensure that incidents don’t occur.

We know this because:

1. A huge majority of the individual cases we take forward are for council data protection claims;
2. There have been plenty of incidents in the news, and we often cover them;
3. Studies and research has indicated the extent of these problems.

Some of the common problems that have been identified based on the compensation claims we take forward and external research include:

• A lack of training for staff, with one previous Freedom of Information request suggesting that as many as three-quarters of local authorities don’t have adequate mandatory training;
• A lack of security practices, including encryption and password-protection;
• A lack of awareness for staff at all levels of the organisation, which can also stem from a lack of policies and procedures in place. This can lead to greater instances of human error data leaks, for example;
• A lack of qualified IT staff to handle the authority’s data security, and a lack of software for protection as well. One previous study suggested that local authorities were being hit by between 30 and 40 cyberattacks every minute. This shows how important the need for security is!

As the digital age evolves, so must local authorities

More and more people are working remotely. More and more people can access work servers from home, which includes even simple things like access to work emails on your phone.

The digital age and the use of technology is likely to keep growing and growing. Ultimately, local authorities risk data breaches unless they change their attitude toward cybersecurity and data protection legislation.

Making a claim for compensation

Where local authorities risk data breaches and this results in your personal information being misused or exposed, it’s important to know your rights.

You may eligible to make a claim for council data breach compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis.

To speak to our team about your potential case, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for free, no-obligation advice.