Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
If your address is leaked to an ex-partner, you could be entitled to claim data breach compensation now on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Your Lawyers, as leading Data Leak Lawyers, has secured over £1m in compensation for mostly individual data clients, and this includes for victims where this very scenario has happened. We may not be able to undo any damage that has been caused, but the GDPR can entitle you to claim, and you could be owed thousands of pounds in data breach damages.
We represent thousands of people claiming data breach compensation, and a number of those involve council email data leaks that are often entirely preventable.
The team here at Your Lawyers – AKA The Data Leak Lawyers – is more than used to helping people pursue council data breach compensation cases as a leading firm of privacy claims experts. Claims against councils and local authorities are common, and you could be eligible to receive No Win, No Fee legal representation now.
A suspected Dorset Council data breach has been reported in the media at the back end of 2021, although little is known yet about the finer details of the incident.
We know that the matter has been reported to the regulators, and that apologies have been made. If personal and sensitive information has been misused or exposed, this could cause significant distress to anyone affected.
Your Lawyers, as leading Data Leak Lawyers, are used to representing people for council data breach compensation cases. Anyone affected by such an incident can access free, no-obligation legal advice from our expert team here now.
There has been a Wealden Council data breach incident that is understood to have allowed a resident to access the private and personal information of other people.
Due to what appears to be an access error, some particularly personal and sensitive information has ended up exposed. The council has apologised for the incident but, for those affected, the damage may already have been done.
Your Lawyers, as leading Data Leak Lawyers, see these kinds of events all the time, and we are more than used to representing the victims for compensation cases.
In a data breach earlier this year involving Trafford Council, the personal information of residents had been publicly exposed. Personal details were reportedly taken as part of a resident survey, but the private information was understood to have not been redacted when the council sent a Freedom of Information request response to another resident.
Errors such as this seem to have become a common trait of council data breaches, with employees making needless mistakes that could be corrected with a few checks, and with greater attention to the appropriate procedures. Overall, the trend of human error data breaches at local authorities would suggest that there are inherent problems when it comes to data protection.
A lack of awareness in respect of data protection and cybersecurity is simply unacceptable in this day and age, in which the digitisation of personal information has the potential to make it a more accessible target for cybercriminals. While organisations bear the overall responsibility for compliance with data protection law, individual employees also have a role to play in eliminating data security risks.
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.
The civil service spreads across a number of different departments, and handles a large amount of sensitive information. With the responsibility of processing, handling and storing such private data, we would expect the civil service to ensure that such data remains secure. Instead, there have been a number of civil service data breaches in recent years which indicates that these government departments may need to improve their data protection strategies.
In accordance with UK data protection law, all organisations in possession of information must protect it from exposure with appropriate procedures and cybersecurity measures. If they fail to do so, they could be deemed to have broken the law, and may face sanctions or penalties.
But also, if you have been affected by a data breach, you could be eligible to claim compensation for any harm caused. Even the civil service is not exempt from data protection law, so come to us for free, no-obligation advice if you think you may have a compensation claim to make.
Oxford City Council issued an apology over a possible data breach that the local authority may have caused. It is said that a computer error may have exposed information contained in rent statements.
Following news coverage from The Oxford Mail, the exact nature of this security incident and its impact has been unclear. It was not decisively identified as a data breach, but incidents such as this nevertheless highlight the damage that can be brought about by unintentional data protection errors. Even where the data controller has not broken data protection law, it is important to flag potential negligence to ensure that it is thoroughly investigated.
As a victim of an information security incident, it can often be difficult to tell whether or not an organisation has breached your rights under data protection and privacy law. This is why it is important to seek legal advice if you have reason to believe that your personal information has been compromised. At Your Lawyers – The Data Leak Lawyers- as leading data compensation claims experts, we can offer potential data breach victims free, no-obligation advice on their eligibility for a compensation claim.
The head of Manchester City Council has recently reported that the local authority’s IT systems have been subjected to regular cyberattacks in recent times. Richard Leese described how the council has reportedly been hit by concerted attacks recently, and he believes that other councils may be falling victim to the same kinds of issues.
The council chair’s warning to other local authorities highlights the importance of cyberattack prevention and response strategies, particularly in terms of how there is a need for a shared approach. Despite their sometimes small and local scale, councils cannot expect to avoid assaults on their systems and networks. Hackers can be indiscriminate in their targets, seeking to hit as many organisations as possible in the hopes of data theft and financial gain.
With councils facing a significant threat of cybercrime, it is essential that all local authorities comply with data protection law to produce effective methods of protecting the personal information they hold. If they are found to be responsible for data exposure, they may be in breach of the law, and the victims of the breach may be entitled to claim compensation for the harm caused.
A report by The Register has revealed that text messages sent by council agents en masse to UK taxpayers may have been exposing their personal data to unrestricted access. The external agency Telsolutions Ltd reportedly developed the SMS system for the purposes of chasing debts, but allegedly failed to impose basic security measures. This has apparently made it easy for users to manipulate the links sent in the text messages. This example of a council debt chasing data breach could, therefore, be a sign of a fundamentally inadequate approach to data protection.
It is unclear if anyone took advantage of the security loophole, and if so, how many people chose to do so. Nevertheless, its existence can be enough to cause concern for anyone contacted by local councils in this manner, particularly given the vulnerable situations some alleged tax defaulters may be in.
Your Lawyers, as specialists in data protection law, is disappointed to hear that a number of councils may have again failed to take the precautions necessary to protect their residents’ private information. We help data breach victims to claim compensation for the harm caused, so you can contact us for advice if you think you may have a claim to make.
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