The Watford Community Housing data breach is a particularly sensitive incident, and victims can be entitled to make a claim for compensation with us on a No Win, No fee basis.
According to the WCH website, an email was sent on the 23rd March 2020 that contained the personal details for several of its customers. They say that this was a “human error” incident and that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been informed about the incident, as well as reporting the matter to their regulator.
Here’s how we can help you and what you need to do as a victim of the breach to get the right legal advice and help that you need. As a leading firm of data breach law specialists, we’re here for you.
About the Watford Community Housing data breach
According to the statement on the WCH website, they say:
“We are taking a variety of steps to assess the potential impact on those affected by the breach, including identifying any safeguarding concerns, and we are contacting relevant customers to provide information, guidance and support.”
For the victims, this isn’t always enough. When information like this is exposed, it’s your right to seek proper justice for what has happened, and that’s where we can help.
It’s understood that the email had a spreadsheet attachment containing the details for over 3,500 people. Data exposed is understood to have included incredibly sensitive information such as sexual orientation, ethnic origin and disability information, as well as the usual name and contact data. This makes the Watford Community Housing data breach incredibly serious, as this is the kind of information that many people do not wish to be disclosed. It’s also data that could be used by criminals for malicious purposes.
Legal right to claim compensation
As a victim of the Watford Community Housing data breach, you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation with us on a No Win, No Fee basis.
This kind of breach is incredibly personal and sensitive which means that getting the right legal advice and representation is important. We already represent victims claiming in some of the most serious breaches of privacy to have ever taken place, including the 56 Dean Street Clinic leak of 2015 and last year’s Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic leak. Both are similar email leaks where sensitive information was inadvertently disclosed in a “human error” email incident. In reality, these kinds of email data leaks are entirely avoidable when proper systems and software are used in place of risky manual processes like this.
When your information is leaked or exposed, you have the legal right to make a GDPR compensation claim for the distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information. Given our extensive experience in representing victims for sensitive data breaches, we have the experience to make sure that you get the justice you deserve. Data breach compensation amounts in cases of this nature can be significant given the nature of the information exposed.
About data breach compensation law
Our lawyers have decades of experience in representing people for compensation claims. When it comes to the niche area of data protection law, we’ve been representing people for privacy breaches since 2014, with our first data action like this taken forward in 2015 (the 56 Dean Street incident).
This is a lot longer than most other law firms. Only in the last couple of years have other firms started to specifically take data cases forward, and we’ve seen a great deal of concerning marketing claims being made by some companies. This is why we prefer to let our experience speak for itself instead of using generic buzzwords and making misleading claims.
We’re pioneers in this area of law for the following simple reasons:
- Our history dating back to 2014 for privacy breach compensation cases;
- Our position on the Steering Committee for the first GDPR Group Litigation Order (GLO) in England and Wales, the British Airways data group action;
- Our involvement in over 35 separate data breach actions;
- Our regular coverage in mainstream media – including last week’s huge coverage of our estimated £4.5bn Virgin Media Data Breach Compensation Action;
- The fact that thousands of people have come to us for our help and expertise.
We feel that the importance of raising this is increasing as more and more breaches take place and more firms start to tout for you to place your case with them. It’s totally up to you as to who you instruct to represent you for a case – that’s your right – but we wouldn’t be doing our job unless we make clear that this area of law remains in its infancy, and we don’t want people to be exploited by dodgy firms or fall victim to poor legal services.
Our experience speaks for itself and means you know that we’re a leading firm of data breach lawyers. To speak to our team today about making a Watford Community Housing data breach compensation claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
MEDIA LINKS
Watford Observer: Identity theft after Watford Community Housing data leak