Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

“Three Mobile security wake-up call” – Three’s data breach will potentially affect six million customers

Three’s CEO, David Dyson, has admitted that there has been a massive security breach, potentially affecting around six of their nine million mobile phone customers.

As a Three customer myself, I was mortified to hear of the news. Without delay, I changed my password… not that I think this would make a huge difference since the damage has already been done.
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“Former NHS employee breaches data protection” – The ICO has fined a former employee around £1,300

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) prosecuted and fined a former NHS employee, Beverley Wooltorton, for the unlawful access of personal information.

The fine imposed amounted to around £1,300 under section 55 of the Data Protection Act (DPA), where it’s unlawful for individuals to obtain personal data ‘knowingly’ (in this case) or ‘recklessly’ without the consent of the data controller, as well as accessing the information for personal reasons.
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The 56 Dean Street Clinic Breach – A look back on what happened

Last year in September, a sexual health clinic based in Soho, London, revealed almost 800 of their patients’ private information to each other by mistake – i.e. the other patients – when an email was sent to the list of people where the names and addresses for the other recipients were not hidden.

This has resulted in one of the biggest data breaches in the history of the NHS, and has led to us fighting for the rights of numerous people who have been affected by the breach.
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WP29’s open letter to Yahoo to explain mass data breach, involving more than 500 million user accounts

Following the massive Yahoo data leak – which involved over 500 million user accounts being accessed – the EU’s Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP29) has put tremendous pressure on the multinational technology company to explain the breach.

This can only be a good thing – these mass data breach organisations need to be held to account, and need to be robustly questioned on how they have managed to allow such breaches to happen!
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Companies must not drop their security ‘A-Game’ – The rise in data breaches and cybercrime year on year

Businesses and organisations need to keep their ‘A-Game’ as reports show that data breach costs are sharply increasing.

If they do not want to be facing fines and costs for not providing adequate security to their customers, they must step-up.

In the growing digital era, it’s important that companies and organisations are equipped to fend off cyber hackers/attackers, as malicious techniques are used to gain unauthorised access to personal data.
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“Largest data breach in Australian history” – 550,000 personal details of blood donors were accessed by an “unauthorised person”

You may have seen the recent news coverage of the huge data breach in Australia involving the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.

It seems they’re the next organisation to face a gruelling investigation into how 550,000 of their patients’ details were accessed by an “unauthorised person”. It has been described as Australia’s largest data breach to date, and it’s a real concern, as most data breaches are.
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“BBC reports 169 data breaches” – 10,000 customers’ data lost over a decade

Recent reports show that BBC has allegedly breached 10,000 of their customers’ personal data over the period of almost a decade.

Over the 10 year period it was reported that there were 169 data breaches, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. The personal information that seems to have been lost includes partial bank details, mobile numbers, addresses, and signatures through TV licensing fee accounts.

All very worrying…
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“Data breach fines that could dismantle a company” – The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council imposes a new EU regulation that could impose £122 billion worth of data breach fines on U.K. companies, taking effect in 2018

As cyber-attacks are on a continual upward trend, so is the need for real and robust data protection.

This is shown in the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s (PCI SSC) statement where new penalties are to be enforced under EU data protection regulations for data breaches. Any financial penalty should scare any organisation from potential data breaches until the end of times!

The figures are staggering!

It’s reported that UK companies could face up to £122 billion in fines if they violate data protection principles, which is a lot of money.
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“Did Weebly do enough to fend off the hackers?” – Weebly and Foursquare in a potential breach of their customers’ personal information

In the string of data breaches this decade has given rise to, website builder Weebly are next in line.

It’s thought that 43 million users’ personal details were leaked as part of a massive breach. I can say with certainty that this will not be the end of data breaches, as many companies and organisations lack the security and protection needed to fend off the cyber-criminals of today. However, it is not enough for companies to be reactive; they need to be proactive to ensure the safety of our personal data.

Especially a company like Weebly who are handling websites for people and businesses around the world!
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Wrongful access to medical records

Our medical records are private and often very sensitive. Only those who we allow should access our medical records, and there should always be a good and justifiable reason to do so.

Despite this rather obvious sentiment, wrongful or needless access, or use of, medical records remains a problem that we have had to help people claim for. It can sometimes be people we know who have access to our records and access them for wrongful means, or it could be someone accessing records to change them, or to use information from them for financial gain.

It happens, and we have helped people who have had to claim when their records have been unduly accessed.
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