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Shurgard UK employee data breach

The Shurgard UK employee data breach has led to personal and sensitive information about employees being leaked by Human Resources.

Our Data Leak Lawyers have been approached for help and representation following the breach, where personal and sensitive data about employees was accidentally shared to what’s believed to be all employees within the company.

The attachments on the breach email contained detailed notes referencing employee attitudes, attendances, progression potential, grievances and health concerns.

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Jaguar Land Rover employee data breach

Jaguar Land Rover have been subject to an employee data breach that has reportedly affected hundreds of staff.

The personal and sensitive employee data for hundreds of agency staff at the firm’s Solihull site is understood to have been shared around the workforce as the carmaker sets to embark on a job redundancy program that may affect thousands of employees.

The data breached includes payroll information and personal data about days of absence, and even employee disability information.

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Is an organisation responsible for an employee data breach?

“Is an organisation responsible for an employee data breach?”

This question is rarely asked when people contact us for help and advice about a data protection compensation claim, but it can be a key one. Many people often assume that the organisation – i.e. the person’s employer – must be responsible; but that’s not always the case.

Data breach incidents are assessed on a case-by-case basis, but there can be scenarios where an employee’s data breach can leave the employer vicariously liable, meaning the organisation they work for is who you pursue. In fact, a recent landmark case has potentially made it easier to do this as well.
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A data breach at the University of Surrey Sports Park hits 90,000 staff and students

A data breach at the University of Surrey Sports Park has hit 90,000 people after a password was published online by a software supplier in what is being classed as an “employee error”.

The University has reportedly contacted members, staff and students to inform them of the data security issue, where details like birth dates, bank details, health information and contact particulars was at risk of exposure due to the publication of the password. A “sincere apology” has been issued, and victims of the breach are being asked to remain vigilant.
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When employees steal data to engage in personal contact with customers…

There is a very worrying trend of employees stealing data from their workplaces in order to engage personal contact with a customer. More often than not, it is an employee stealing a customer’s mobile phone number and then contacting the customer to “make friends” or try and pursue a romantic interest in the victim.

Clearly, this is wrong.

How will this worrying trend be stopped, and what can victims do if they are contacted by people who have stolen their contact information from a workplace?
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Councils ‘unprepared’ for cyber-attacks

According to information from a report by privacy advocates Big Brother Watch, despite assurances that local government authorities are taking data protection seriously, more than a quarter of UK councils have had systems breached in the last five years.

The report also found that the majority of the successful breaches were caused by the simple and well-known phishing method, pointing to staff as the “weakest link” in terms of cybersecurity and data defence.

The report also references the fact that three-quarters of councils reportedly do not provide mandatory cyber-security training, with 16% not providing any at all.
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Leicester City Council accidentally send spreadsheet to taxi firms containing details of vulnerable adults and children

Leicester City Council accidentally sent an unsecured spreadsheet to 27 taxi firms that reportedly contained sensitive details of potentially thousands of vulnerable adults and children.

The error occurred as the local government authority were processing tenders for transport of people in care and people with special needs.

Although a recall email was sent, there is no telling just how far the data may have inadvertently spread.
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NHS staff accessing neighbour’s medical records is NOT okay

There is a recent worrying trend of NHS staff being caught out snooping on people they know, or are related to, by abusing their powers to access their medical records.

Let’s be absolutely clear: it is NOT okay for any member of the NHS to access their neighbour’s medical records without good reason or due authorisation.

If you are informed that a member of the NHS staff has accessed your medical records in such a way, or if you discover it has happened, you may be entitled to claim for data protection breach compensation.
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NHS health board left “devastated and disappointed” after another employee data protection breach

In what Hywel Dda University Health Board admitted to be the second data protection breach they have faced of this nature, yet another NHS worker has been caught accessing confidential medical records without a valid reason.

Instances of NHS workers accessing medical records when they have no reason or right to access them is a common problem at the moment. Most of the time, staff committing the breaches are accessing records for people they know out of nothing more than curiosity.
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Council worker fined after being caught sharing personal data on Snapchat

It’s not only NHS workers who are breaching data protection rules by accessing medical records when they shouldn’t be. There’s also a worrying trend of data being breached by the rogue actions of employees, and with data being so easily shared nowadays, we remain concerned.

With a huge amount of councils lacking proper mandatory data protection training, you could argue there are potentially thousands of employees out there who don’t know any better. This is not good enough, and these prosecutions should serve as stern warnings to both employers and employees about breaching data protection rights by illegally sharing data.
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