British Airways GDPR fine and group action were avoidable
Undoubtedly, the provisional British Airways GDPR fine in the sum of £183m, and the group action that could lead to an estimated cost of £3bn, were both avoidable.
All that was needed was for the airline to have had proper cybersecurity measures in place that could have prevented the 2018 cyber-attacks. Given what we know, and the fact that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has deemed it necessary to issue a fine, this whole scandal could have been avoided.
The fact that the attacks were successful is another example of big corporations being reactive as opposed to proactive. The costs of the fine and the litigation will no doubt serve as clear punishment for the fact that vital data protection laws have been breached. But make no mistake about it, this could have been prevented.
GDPR data breach rights and claiming compensation
GDPR data breach rights have never been more prevalent in today’s digitalised age, especially when we’re seeing more and more breaches taking place all of the time.
As specialists in group action compensation, a large proportion of the over 40 different group and multi-party actions that we’re involved with now include data protection issues. These range from some of the earliest actions, like the TalkTalk hack and the 56 Dean Street Clinic leak, to huge cases like the BA Data Breach Group Action that we’re on the Steering Committee for.
With this in mind, we wanted to make sure that people are clear on how GDPR affects their rights when it comes to making a claim for compensation.
British Airways data breach group action information
With the British Airways data breach group action getting the go ahead at the key hearing in early October, here’s a little information about the action and our firm’s position within it.
As a firm, our focus is on group action (sometimes referred to as class action) compensation cases, with consumer rights and data protection two areas of law that we specialise in. The BA Group Action is both a consumer and data protection matter, which is why we decided to take action as soon as news of the cyberattacks hit the media.
Since 2018, we’ve been taking cases forward on a No Win, No Fee basis. Given our participation in the action on the whole, we were appointed to the Steering Committee that’s responsible for the conduct of the litigation. Here’s a little information about the case so far.
Join the British Airways hack compensation action
The British Airways hack compensation group action is well underway following the key hearing that took place at the start of this month.
At the hearing, Mr Justice Warby paved the way for a landmark legal case when he approved the Group Litigation Order (GLO) and appointed our firm to the Steering Committee. The deadline for those who have yet to join the action was set, and the path to justice the hundreds of thousands of victims of the 2018 data breaches lies ahead.
We’re able to represent victims who claim with us on a No Win, No Fee basis. Our funding and insurance is in place for those who sign-up to join the BA Group Action with us.
Surge in sign-ups to join the join the BA Group Action lawsuit
Following the key court hearing at the start of October, the Group Action Lawyers has seen a surge in people signing up to join the BA Group Action lawsuit.
Mr Justice Warby gave the green light for a Group Litigation Order (GLO) to proceed, which means the entire potential Claimant pool (of around 500,000) can bring their claims together.
At the time of the hearing, only a few thousand people had started their case. Following the news of the GLO getting the go ahead, and news of the Steering Committee appointment, we’ve seen an expected influx of people now joining up to the BA Group Action.
BA group action court case goes ahead
The landmark BA group action court case has been given the go ahead to proceed as a Group Litigation Order (GLO) by Mr Justice Warby, with Your Lawyers appointed to the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee firms will generally oversee the overall conduct of the proceedings, so we’re delighted with the decision. We’ve also succeeded in ensuring that there’s a reasonable deadline for people to join the action, which was something of a contended issue when BA’s lawyers had previously been in favour of a short cut-off date.
Although Claimants may now be able to join the BA Group Action up until around January 2021, we’re urging anyone who wants to start a case to do so sooner rather than later.
Victims affected by the BA data breach urged to claim now
Those who were affected by the BA data breach incidents of 2018 are being urged to sign-up and join the BA Group Action as soon as possible.
For those who are yet to join, you should know that there’s an important court hearing that’s set to take place this Friday, 4th October 2019. At this hearing, the final court cut-off date to join the action may be established, and it may not be long until it expires.
You may not be aware of this, but the lawyers representing BA have previously been in favour of a very short cut-off date of just 17 weeks to join the case. This could mean hundreds of thousands of victims who have yet to start their claim may miss out.
Greater Manchester NHS patients hit by medical records scandal
Around 2,000 Greater Manchester NHS patients have been contacted by the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust with regards to unauthorised access of their medical records.
In typical cases where NHS employees have wrongfully accessed medical records, they’ve done so for people they know. These are usually cases of ‘snooping’ on partners, former partners, friends, neighbours and friends, for example. In this incident, a complaint resulted in an investigation that uncovered several incidents of improper access over an 18-month period, involving several NHS employees.
People whose medical records have been unlawfully accessed can be entitled to make a claim for data breach compensation. We’re taking cases forward on a No Win, No Fee basis having been contacted for help.
British Airways class action news in the Daily Mail
Our lawyers have been talking to the Daily Mail about the present position regarding the ongoing British Airways class action compensation case for UK victims.
We’re trying to ensure that those who have yet to start a claim know that time may be running out, and that they should sign-up for the BA Group Action without delay. We believe that the actions of the lawyers representing the airline could be an attempt to limit the deadline for joining the action to just 17 weeks. This could lead to potentially hundreds of thousands of people missing out on their chance to claim.
Those who have yet to start a claim should do so as soon as they possibly can.
Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic email leak action
We’ve launched legal action which will form as part of a group / multi-party case for victims of the Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic email leak.
We were quickly contacted by victims of the data breach who have asked for our help, and we’ve agreed to represent them on a No Win, No Fee basis. The incident is a breach of GDPR, and it was entirely avoidable and should never have happened in the first place.
Given the nature of the data that has been exposed, we expect that the impact for many of the victims will be severe. Those who are affected by the data leak can be entitled to claim compensation for the distress caused.
Drugs recall compensation claims advice
Drugs recall compensation claims can form into group and multi-party actions when users have suffered as a result of a problem with the manufacturers or the suppliers.
The impact for the victims in these kinds of cases can, of course, be severe; especially if the drugs being recalled are for serious or even life-threatening conditions. Even the fact that there is a recall can be worrying for the patients who are told to stop taking their medication and seek replacements.
When these kinds of recalls happen, they can lead to group action compensation claims if the impact on the victims is severe enough. Groups could range from just a small number of victims who were unlucky enough to be affected, to thousands of people who may have suffered.
British Airways claim deadline
It’s important to ensure that you sign-up and join the BA Group Action before the British Airways claim deadline expires.
Due to recent developments in the action that we’re involved in, we’ve reason to believe that the deadline could be very soon. This is based on the actions of the lawyers who are representing BA in the litigation, and we believe that they’re trying to push for a short cut-off date for victims to claim.
This could lead to tens of thousands of people missing out on the chance to make a claim. As such, we’re urging anyone who has yet to start their claim to do so immediately.