{"id":5006,"date":"2021-07-14T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T07:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dataleaklawyers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=5006"},"modified":"2021-07-22T10:51:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T09:51:29","slug":"the-shurgard-data-breach-three-years-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dataleaklawyers.co.uk\/blog\/the-shurgard-data-breach-three-years-on","title":{"rendered":"The Shurgard data breach – three years on"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June 2018, the Shurgard data breach came to our attention, and we began to advise those affected by the incident. It was found that an internal error had led to personal information about employees being mistakenly shared, allegedly with all employees in the company.<\/p>\n

It may seem that internal company data breaches are not as severe as those that provoke widespread public data exposure but, in fact, incidents such as these can be highly serious for those affected. Data protection errors must be avoided in all circumstances, as even the most basic of mistakes can have harmful implications.<\/p>\n

All businesses and organisations in possession of personal data have a legal obligation to protect this information to the best of their abilities. Where they fail to meet this obligation, it can constitute a breach of data protection law. Those affected by the Shurgard data breach, or any other incident like this, may have a right to recover compensation for a data breach incident. To hear more about your potential right to claim, contact our specialist data breach team for free, no-obligation advice<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Shurgard data breach – what happened?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Shurgard data breach arose in June three years ago, after a mistake was made when an employee sent an email. Instead of the intended recipients, the employee sent the email to employees who should never have seen its contents, namely the spreadsheet attachments that contained sensitive employee data.<\/p>\n

It is believed that the email was meant to be sent to HR and managerial staff, who are typically the only members of a business with the right to access private data.<\/p>\n

Instead of being completely open about the error made, it is understood that the recipients of the email were sent a follow-up message asking them to urgently delete the message, explaining that it was caused by an \u201cIT system error\u201d. The email also reportedly suggested to employees that the attachments could be dangerous, stating that opening them \u201cmay cause issues with your system\u201d.<\/p>\n

What information was leaked?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The personal data leaked in the Shurgard data breach was highly private, including details relating to disciplinary action and absences. The spreadsheets included information on the following subjects:<\/p>\n