Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Third-party outsourcing can lead to a council data protection breach

Third-party outsourcing can lead to a council data protection breach, and as the old saying goes, “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” – which means councils and local authorities are only as good as the private organisations they outsource work to.

This is important, because public sector data breaches are an ongoing problem, and councils can be a prime target for cyber-criminals as well as being vulnerable to leaks and breaches from inadequate procedures and policies.

With councils outsourcing work for the private sector a lot, there is understandable cause for concern.

read more

By Author

St Helens council data breach

There are allegations of a St Helens council data breach involving recently resigned council leader, Barrie Grunewald.

Any council data protection breach can be serious and can pave the way for legal cases for victims of such a breach; especially when it comes to the nature of the data councils hold. This incident, however, is a little unclear in terms of exactly what has happened.

Police are said to be investigating the alleged data breach which is thought to involve images from a group WhatsApp conversation between St Helens politicians which were allegedly obtained from a mobile phone and subsequently distributed. Mr Grunewald has said that the allegations are “spurious”, and police investigations remain ongoing.

read more

By Author

Councils data breaches and GDPR

Council data breaches and the GDPR that’s coming into force this month is a key topic for discussion. With councils and other public sector authorities often experiencing high levels of data breaches and data leaks, it’s imperative that enough attention is paid to the new regulations that could see organisations fined a heck of a lot more money for breaching data laws.

We take on and represent a lot of people for council data breaches, so we know how often they happen, and we know how bad they can be for the victims. Given the nature of the data that councils hold, any breach or leak can often be very serious for the victims who are entitled to claim for data protection breach compensation.
read more

By Author

Kensington and Chelsea council fined £120,000 for indeliberate data breach

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council has been fined £120,000 for an indeliberate data breach because the personal details of empty property owners in their constituency was published, contrary to data protection laws.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called it a “serious contravention” which has led to the huge fine being issued of £120,000.

According to the ICO reports, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request had been made in relation to the Grenfell Tower incident as part of research into social inequality, and it was this request that led to the accidental disclosure.
read more

By Author

Council data protection breaches: a common problem

Council data protection breaches are a common problem, so if you have been the victim of a breach or leak caused by your local council, you’re one of many.

You have rights to be able to claim for data breach compensation, whether the council has directly breached data laws, or where a local authority outsourced company has breached the law instead.

We advise and represent a lot of people for council data leaks and data breaches because the root problems as to why they are so common have yet to be resolved.
read more

By Author