We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
If you or your dependent has been the victim of a college data breach, you can be entitled to bring a claim for compensation for any distress and / or financial loss that has been caused.
Most students at college will be under 18, and in these circumstances, a parent or guardian can bring the case for them as their formal ‘Litigation Friend’. We can offer the same No Win, No Fee representation we can offer for other cases, and damages can be awarded for any impact to the victim. If you’re an employee, we can help you as well.
Here’s some advice if this is an issue that has affected you or someone that you know.
Government data breaches can be incredibly serious, and when you look at why, it’s obvious. Victims of these kinds of data breaches should know their rights for justice as well, and this goes for both national and local government organisations.
I heard recently that a survey suggested that some IT bosses in the public sector consider that the data they hold is not as valuable as data in the private sector. Clearly, some of these individuals do not grasp the gravity of the extent of data that’s stored and processed by public sector organisations and would do well to consider this.
Given the nature of the data that they hold, and for how many people, any breach, leak or hack can be serious.
If your medical records are lost, you may be entitled to bring a legal case for compensation as a result of any understandable distress that can be caused.
When we think of medical data breach compensation claims, many people think of the obvious exposure and misuse incidents. But the loss of medical records can still be a loss of control of personal and sensitive information, and such incidents must be treated with same seriousness. The distress that can be suffered can be just as bad, especially when people are left with no idea as to where their private data has ended up, and who may have seen it.
At the end of the day, lost medical information could end up in the wrong hands, and the same loss of control worries apply.
We’re now coming up to two months since the British Airways data class action was formalised here in the UK, but if you’re not sure exactly what it is, read on for more information.
As you may already be aware, there were two huge cyber incidents last year involving the airline. The biggest one was announced in September 2018 shortly after its discovery, and as a GDPR breach, claims for compensation for victims could go forward. We started taking cases on right away and have been accepting new claims ever since.
With there being thousands of people signed up with different law firms who are all essentially claiming on similar grounds, the BA Group Action was formed. Here’s how, and what it entails.
You can be entitled to make a claim for compensation if you have been the victim of a university cyber breach and your data has been misused or exposed.
It’s important to remember that higher education facilities like universities hold a wealth of information about a lot of people. It can include the usual personal information as well as financial data for fees, and medical and domestic data to ensure that the needs to students are met. When it comes to mitigating circumstances, the information that could be held for students can include some incredibly personal and sensitive information.
Universities can also be a major target for cyber criminals because of the research data that they hold. The information for students and employees can easily get caught up in such an attack as well.
Unless you have fallen victim to such an incident, it can be hard to fully understand the impact when it comes to NHS staff snooping on patient records.
And if you have been the victim of such an incident, we know all too well how you must feel. Medical data breach compensation claims are one of the most common types of cases that we take forward, and many involve staff accessing medical records inappropriately.
The recent incident involving Greater Manchester patients has also triggered a new wave of victims who are claiming with us as part of a multi-party (group) action as well. If you don’t have a case with us but want to know more about what you can do, here’s some advice for you.
In the same way that fines can be far higher, will we also see higher GDPR compensation amounts since the new law came into effect in May 2018?
Although data breach compensation amounts are still based on the individual impact to the victim, and this hasn’t changed since GDPR, the new laws can make brining a claim an easier thing to do. The law is more stringent than the previous Data Protection Act, so there can be more avenues for people to be able to claim. And the recent court case victory has also paved the way for people to be able to launch a claim even if they haven’t suffered any distress or loss at all.
The difference in fines is, of course, monumental. We have already seen the power that regulators now have to ensure data breach offenders are properly punished.
A victim of a police computer data breach can be entitled to make a claim for compensation for any distress or loss that’s suffered.
Ultimately, we treat a police data breach in the same was as any other. The police and their employees are not above the law, and they too must abide by the data protection laws and principles we have here in the UK. As such, any breach can lead to a victim being able to make a claim, and we can offer No Win, No Fee representation.
As experts in data breach compensation claiming, having been helping people (thousands of them!) specifically in this niche area of law for several years, we can help you.
When it comes to avoiding what can be incredibly damaging healthcare information data breaches, prevention over reaction is absolutely key.
In fact, just this morning, we’ve heard about the Labour Party reportedly being hit by a “large and sophisticated cyber-attack”. Our understanding is that the attack on its digital platforms failed, and the reason for the failure is reportedly due to the party’s “robust security systems”.
So, there you have it. Just as we’re about to give you our expert advice about the need for the healthcare sector to focus on prevention, we have just seen what may be the perfect example to compare it to. The long and short of it all is that all organisations must take all reasonable steps to ensure their cybersecurity is robust in order to prevent events taking place.
We’ve said before that a part of the reason that we’re involved in the Group Action for the BA data protection breach is because we believe that the case for compensation is strong.
That’s why we have dedicated a great deal of our time and resources to the action. We have been fighting for the rights of those affected by the BA data breach, working tirelessly on a No Win, No Fee basis for our valued clients.
We’ve talked a lot about how better data protection practices and more robust security could have prevented this breach. We’ve also talked about the fact that GDPR and earlier breaches like the Equifax hack and the Ticketmaster breach should have been warning enough for British Airways to have taken action. Had they have taken action, they could have prevented this colossal incident. And doing so could have been very simple, and incredibly cost-effective.
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