Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

We-Vibe data surveillance breaches the Data Protection Act

We have been approached by a number of concerned individuals in the U.K. following the news that the company behind the “smart sex toy” We-Vibe is settling Group Action claims in the U.S. for collecting user data without proper consent.

We have now taken on a multitude of cases as we investigate the circumstances surrounding the collection of data without the consent of users here in the U.K., which we allege is a breach of the Data Protection Act.

The Canadian manufacturer of We-Vibe, Standard Innovation, was fined CAD $4 million (£2.4 million) after they were found to be collating and using their customers’ data without explicit consent.
read more

By Author

IoT (Internet of Things) devices still vulnerable to cyber-attacks

Over the years, technology has been expanding and digital devices are on the upward trend. The idea of connecting a device to every aspect of the home or office for instance has been appealing to many.

Technology enthusiasts have coined the name Internet of Things (IoT) for these kinds of devices which are connected to the internet allowing them to correspond with each other… An example of this would be telling your device to switch the light on or off.
read more

By Author

“Honesty is the best policy” – Consumers appreciate companies’ transparency in the event of a breach

A new report from NTT Security shows that transparency and honesty are what consumers most desire in the event of a breach.

However this is not new news. This has been the general consensus for many years following the sharp rise in data breaches in recent years. People are keen to know if their data has been compromised, and people deserve to know so they can assess what they may need to do.
read more

By Author

“The NHS’ data protection obligation” – former NHS employee’s data breach shows the importance of the NHS’ duty to protect our data

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has prosecuted and fined a former NHS employee, Kayleigh Evans, for the unlawful access of personal information. The fine imposed amounted to more than £1,000.

The former employee of the Solent NHS Trust accessed sensitive medical records of a former girlfriend of her partner without need or proper authority. The ICO’s investigation concluded that Ms Evans accessed the medical records over a ten month period without consent.
read more

By Author

“SMEs reportedly not prepared for cyber-attacks” – More and more SMEs are subject to cyber-attacks and are worryingly not prepared for them

Amongst all the ‘high-profile’ data breaches like Yahoo and TalkTalk, there isn’t a lot of media coverage surrounding small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the data breaches they’re guilty of.

However, SMEs should remain vigilant as there is a rise in cyber-hacks in recent years, with cyber-criminals targeting small businesses just as much as the larger ones.

The legislation affects us all, so no one can hide from it – no matter your size!
read more

By Author

The most worrying web leak of 2017: Cloudflare’s #CloudBleed

Google’s Project Zero team detected a huge data leak on Friday 24 February which may persuade you to change all your passwords.

According to Cloudflare’s incident report, a bug exposed private session keys and other sensitive data of 2 million sites on the Cloudflare network.

Once again – no one is safe!
read more

By Author

Are consumers seeing data breaches as the new norm?

Thanks to the ever-growing rise in technological devices, we’re in an era where we are all at a huge risk of data breaches.

We’re more connected to our smart devices than ever before, with millions of us relying on the security of our information being a given. But as more of our information is going online, the risk of data breaches is increasing, and leaks, breaches, and hacks are becoming commonplace.
read more

By Author

Data breaches becoming more common in the workplace with 90 per cent of employees are violating data protection policies

Data breaches are becoming vastly common in the growing digital era, and are sometimes bigger threats than hackers themselves…

According to research, 90% of employees violate data breach prevention policies. This is contrary to the common misconception that data breaches are undertaken by cyber-hackers who are masked behind their screens. In fact, data breaches happen daily due to the failure of employees who are not following data prevention policies.
read more

By Author

Most data breaches happen because of missed oversight or exploited vulnerabilities

Whenever we hear about huge data breach scandals like the recent Yahoo fiasco or the TalkTalk hacking, we think “how could this happen to such a large company?”

With large businesses and companies, one would expect them to be big and grand in all areas, including cybersecurity. In a shopping centre, you’d think the bigger the shop or the more expensive the items they sell would mean their security is stronger. However, realistically, these data breaches still happen to large companies because they don’t always prioritise their security.
read more

By Author

“Spying in schools becoming the norm” – More than 1,000 schools use software to monitor their students online use

Child safety and security has been at the apex for years, but it’s questionable as to whether it has been the case at the expense of data protection rights.

Some data privacy campaigners argue that school surveillance goes beyond what is necessary and may actually breach data protection rights of the children.

It’s never been easier to keep an eye on people with technology these days – so are schools going too far?
read more

By Author