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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.
The new legislation that came into force in May 2018 could lead to many incidents and violations, and this includes issues involving a school GDPR breach.
We must remember that all organisations – no matter how big or how small, or whether they’re private or public – are responsible for complying with the GDPR. For schools, not only is the duty there, but we must also account for the fact that the data subjects are young; and therefore vulnerable individuals.
Although schools will need to have adapted in similar ways that businesses have, they cannot take for granted the extra care required given that it’s children involved. If a breach occurs, victims should know their rights.
This month’s news about the Bolton school data loss incident is incredibly worrying to hear about, especially given how vulnerable data in the wrong hands can be.
Although the document containing the pupils’ data has been reported as missing, and it may be the case that it has been lost forever or disposed of, there remains the risk that it could fall – or already has fallen – into the wrong hands.
As expert data leak lawyers, we’ve helped a lot of people with school data breach compensation claims over the years we’ve been fighting for justice. When it comes to vulnerable persons like children, any data incident can lead to significant distress suffered by the victims and their families.
There are concerns as to whether personal and sensitive information may have been exposed in the recent Haylands Primary School data breach.
Hackers are known to target public sector organisations and institutions who may not have cybersecurity that’s strong enough to withstand attacks. The 2017 WannaCry incident was a perfect example of hackers targeting older and outdated software. It ended up hitting the NHS incredibly hard.
In this incident, there are understandable concerns as to whether any personal information about parents and pupils has been exposed.
The Scarborough Sixth Form data breach was another example of an email leak that was caused by a simple administrative error.
It happened in July last year, so it falls within the scope of the new GDPR legislation. The incident was referred to the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) for investigation.
As alarming as an email leak sounds, it’s not an uncommon occurrence. We represent a number of people who have been involved in email data leaks, with the most prominent one being the 56 Dean Street Clinic leak of 2015. As easy as these things can happen, there’s no excuse for allowing it to happen at all.
The recent Twickenham school data breach incidents in the news last month highlight the sorts of problems we face when it comes to data protection.
In these incidents, headteacher Darren Harrison was fined £700.00 and ordered to pay costs of £364.00, plus a victim surcharge of £35, for breaching data laws. He’d reportedly taken data from previous schools he’d worked at – Spelthorne Primary and Russell School – for, he says, professional reasons. He then uploaded the data on to the server of the school he’d then been employed with, Isleworth Town Primary School.
An IT audit discovered the movement of the data about the pupils. This kind of breach is not unique at all.
The Rochester School data breach was caused as a result of a USB stick containing pupil data being lost. The data stick was also unencrypted.
It’s understood that the data for every single pupil – that’s more than 1,000 pupils – at the Rochester Grammar School was exposed on the unencrypted memory stick that was lost. The data included personal and sensitive information which is enough to cause distress to the victims involved.
Rochester School has since apologised for the data breach and the matter has been reported to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The Thinking Schools Academy Trust that runs the school has called the data breach “exceptionally disappointing”.
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