We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
Human error data breaches remain one of the number one causes when it comes to data protection incidents, and it’s important for victims of these kinds of breaches to know their rights.
The important thing to know is that it doesn’t stop you being able to claim if the cause of a breach stems from an error by a human. The organisation that employs the person can be held liable for a legal case, and in this article, we’ll explain why.
It’s not an acceptable excuse for an organisation to simply try and defend a claim on the basis that the fault lies with a human.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a fine in the wake of a documentary that was filmed that led to the Addenbrooke’s Hospital data breach relating to patient consent.
London-based production company behind the filming, True Visions Productions (TVP), were fined £120,000.00 for unlawfully filming in a maternity clinic. As the incidents took place before GDPR, they have been fined in accordance with the previous rules where maximum fines could reach up to £500,000.00; unlike the recent record-setting fine of £183m issued to British Airways.
Filming took place between 24th July 2017 and 29th November 2017 and ceased following complaints received by the ICO. The ICO said: “A patient attending the clinic would not have reasonably expected there to be cameras in examination rooms and would expect to be made aware of any filming.”
We represent people for police-related data incidents, and with this in mind, here’s a number of reasons as to why the recent Eurofins data breach is a worrying one.
In case you’ve not heard of this one, this relates to an organisation that the police outsource forensic work to. Eurofins reportedly process more than 70,000 cases per year, and deal with DNA analysis, toxicology, ballistics and computer forensics. As such, they can be at the heart of investigations into serious crimes, including murder, sexual offences and terrorism.
Worryingly, they were recently hit by a ransomware attack. This has led to a number of concerns about the security and quality of the work they carry out, and has caused significant disruption to police investigations.
The recent record-setting British Airways and Marriott fines that are to be enforced by regulators show the importance of cybersecurity to prevent breaches, and justice for the victims when an incident occurs.
What we saw was two major organisations whose systems were breached when we should be able to expect big corporations to protect our data. We should be able to safely assume that these large, wealthy organisations can – and will – invest in solid cybersecurity. But both have undoubtedly fallen short, and the result is huge fines and claims for compensation for the victims.
The levels of the provisional fines to be enforced shows how seriously the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is taking breaches of GDPR. The compensation actions that we represent people for are the way forward when it comes to justice for victims, which is not accounted for as part of regulatory fines.
A number of people have been unsure as to how the £183m BA GDPR fine works in relation to compensation. They are two separate things, and here’s how it works.
Firstly, the record fine is the current proposal, and British Airways and their owner (IAG) can appeal the decision. Whether any appeal will be successful remains to be seen, but crucially, this is not yet the final fine. However, there will likely be a fine. Even if an appeal is successful, we expect that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is still going to issue a fine.
In terms of compensation, this is dealt with separately as part of a pending group action that you can sign-up for here.
The British Airways compensation deadline for the pending group action we’re representing people for could come around incredibly fast.
The lawyers acting for BA appear to be wanting a quick cut-off date which could see this close off as the fastest Group Litigation Order (GLO) ever processed. As such, we must warn anyone who has yet to join that the deadline for submitting a claim could be very, very soon.
You can sign-up to join the action now, and we recommend that you do so as a matter of urgency. Missing the deadline could mean losing your chance to claim compensation as a victim of the 2018 data breaches.
With this week’s news focused on big GDPR fines for British Airways and Marriott, we can only assume that more fines are on the way.
Our lawyers are fighting for justice in over 25 different data breach group and multi-party actions. That shows just how many big legal cases we’ve taken forward, and some of the incidents took place after GDPR was introduced last year. The BA Group Action is one of those, and the initial fine of £183m shows just how serious the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is on punishing offenders.
With the likes of the Ticketmaster data breach and the Well Pharmacy incidents yet to involve penalties, we expect more big fines to be on the horizon.
Just two days after the announcement of the huge BA data breach fine to the tune of £183m, the Marriott data breach fine is reportedly going to be set at £99m.
These are real statements of intent from the UK’s data watchdog, the ICO (the Information Commissioner’s Office).
When GDPR came into force last year, there was little doubt about the responsibilities that organisations have when it comes to data protection, and the punishments for failure are clear. We’re pleased with the announcement of another huge fine, and as always, we continue to bring the fights for justice for the victims who deserve compensation for the loss of control of their personal information.
The provisional British Airways data breach fine has been set at a record-high of £183m as a result of the 2018 data breach incidents, and the compensation action is underway.
We’ve been representing claimants since news of the scandal broke back in September last year, and since news of the GDPR fine hit the headlines, we’ve received an influx of new inquiries.
The provisional fine that has been issued by the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) reflects the severity of the breach and the impact that the victims have suffered. However, the issue of compensation is separate, and you can sign-up to join the BA Group Action here.
The act of unlawfully accessing personal data can land the offender in a lot of trouble, and it can pave the way for the victims to make a claim for data breach compensation.
Your rights are enshrined in law, and if your rights to information privacy are ever breached, you can be entitled to take legal action. In today’s digital age where information access and sharing are achievable at the click of a button, there’s a wealth of data for millions of people that can be accessed by many individuals.
But people can only access and process information where they’re authorised to do so and have a legitimate reason to do so. Any access of personal data that isn’t done so in accordance with important data legislation can be unlawful. We can represent victims who wish to take a case forward on a No Win, No Fee basis.
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