Shurgard UK employee data breach

The Shurgard UK employee data breach has led to personal and sensitive information about employees being leaked by Human Resources.

Our Data Leak Lawyers have been approached for help and representation following the breach, where personal and sensitive data about employees was accidentally shared to what’s believed to be all employees within the company.

The attachments on the breach email contained detailed notes referencing employee attitudes, attendances, progression potential, grievances and health concerns.

The Shurgard UK employee data breach email

The Shurgard UK employee data breach appears to be the common problem of an employee accidentally sending an email containing personal and sensitive data to the wrong recipients. The breach email enclosed several spreadsheets as attachments that contained personal and sensitive data about their employees.

It’s assumed that the email was intended for HR and managerial purposes but was leaked to staff in error.

A second email followed the breach email asking recipients to delete the email immediately as the email was an “IT system error”. The follow-up email also warned recipients to not open the attachments because doing so “may cause issues with your system”, but it’s believed that this was an effort to scare employees into not opening the attachments.

Data leaked in the Shurgard UK employee data breach

Data that was leaked in the Shurgard UK employee data breach included information about employees such as:

• Competences;
• Attitudes;
• Attendances;
• Concerns over skills;
• Potential for succession and progression within the company;
• Grievances raised;
• Health problems;
• Suspensions;
• Investigations into employees;
• Probationary period progression.

It’s assumed that this data is a part of internal reviews and auditing for management and human resources purposes. Data about employees – especially when it comes to data about competences, concerns, grievances, suspensions, investigations and health matters – is incredibly personal and sensitive, and should not be shared with other employees by the company.

Although it appears that the leak was another case of an email being sent in error to the wrong recipients, this doesn’t negate the fact that the victims have had their private and personal data shared amongst their colleagues.

Shurgard UK employee data breach victims’ rights

Victims of the Shurgard UK employee data breach may be entitled to claim for data breach compensation.

As we have already been approached for help and representation, our Data Leak Lawyers have initiated investigations into the incident, and if you’ve been affected, you can contact our team for help below.

Our expertise

Employee data breaches where the personal and sensitive data about employees is shared without reason or authorisation is not uncommon, and it can affect thousands of people; the Blackpool NHS employee data breach being one example, where the data for thousands of employees was accidentally posted online.

We recognise that employee data breaches are very serious, whether the offending organisations recognise this fact or not.

This isn’t the first time we have represented and advice victims of an accidental email data leak where personal and sensitive information has been inadvertently shared. We continue to fight for justice for victims of the 56 Dean Street Clinic email leak whose HIV status was leaked by an email error.

We’re also helping victims claim compensation in the Manchester United workers’ data breach action too.

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