The Birmingham Mail has recently reported (17th March 2014) that families from a school in Rednal have been affected by a data protection breach involving a council contractor.
Personal details of 11-year-old school pupils were sent to complete strangers by the contractor and personal data including addresses and dates of birth were disclosed to the third parties.
The pupils were from the Colmers School in Rednal and parents were reported to be “absolutely fuming”. The council played the incident down as “small, isolated” however this does not negate the seriousness of such a disclosure of sensitive personal information to third parties. An extremely concerning aspect of this case is that it involves school children and home addresses were disclosed.
A breach of the Data Protection Act can lead to a successful claim in damages for any loss you have suffered and distress. As a consequence, this could be costly for a council already being forced to sell the National Exhibition Centre!
Our actions against public bodies team is able to advise on data protection breaches and whether a claim for damages may exist. They can be contacted on 01616 966 229.
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