We previously recovered over £9,000 in damages for a client who we represented in a matter that involved disclosure without consent that caused understandable distress.
All organisations must comply with the GDPR, and consent when it comes to the disclosure or publication of information is one of the most basic aspects of privacy compliance.
Your Lawyers – as Leading Data Leak Lawyers – is used to representing victims who have been affected by incidents in which information has been breached, leaked, or hacked. If particularly personal and sensitive information has been disclosed without consent, we appreciate the significant distress that can be caused when such an event takes place.
What is disclosure without consent?
Disclosure without consent is any kind of incident in which information has been disclosed or published without the clear consent of the data subject. The data subject is the individual who the information pertains to.
An easy example is if your employer disclosed information about a health condition about you to other colleagues without your permission. Another example could be if your doctor disclosed information to relatives of yours without your clear consent.
The GDPR is very clear in respect of the importance of consent, so any incident in which information disclosure without consent takes place can constitute a breach of the GDPR. Any breach of the GDPR that involves negligence could allow a data subject to recover compensation for any distress and suffering that has been caused.
Over £9,000 recovered for a client of Your Lawyers
We previously recovered over £9,000 in damages for a client of Your Lawyers who was involved in an incident that pertains to disclosure without consent. Whilst we cannot go into the specific details of the individual case, the matter involved medical information being published without the consent of our client.
Healthcare data is some of the most personal and sensitive information that there can be about us. In fact, the GDPR affords healthcare information additional protection by classifying it as “special category” information. This means that its particular significance and importance is recognised more clearly because any breach of such information could cause significant distress to anyone affected. This is why, in this case, we were able to recover over £9,000 for our client who was the victim of having their information shared when they had not consented to do so.
Our average compensation settlement for claimants with our firm is just over £6,000, but this covers the broad spectrum of cases. As you can see, in cases where sensitive medical information is disclosed, the final amounts that can be recovered could be higher.
The importance of GDPR compliance
GDPR compliance is absolutely essential for any organisation in the UK. Any breach of the GDPR can amount to negligence which could allow someone who has suffered to recover compensation for any distress and loss that has been caused.
It is essential for organisations to do all they can to prevent information disclosure from taking place when consent has not been provided. This can be a clear breach of the law and is obviously morally wrong in respect of what we would expect in terms of privacy.