Background

Mr Matthew McConville, the Head of our specialised Data Breach Department at Irvings Law has successfully represented a client (with her family’s claims still ongoing) in a data breach compensation claim against Cardiff Council. The identity of the Mr McConville’s client will be named as ‘Mrs O’ for the purposes of this blog.

Mrs O has had significant on-going issues with her ex-husband in regards to the custody/care of her two children which Cardiff Council were fully aware of. Due to the previous threats/concerns from Mrs O’s ex-husband, the ex-husband was not aware of her address or contact information and Cardiff Council knew of the need to ensure that this personal information was not to be disclosed to Mrs O’s ex-husband at all. Despite this, Cardiff Council’s said Social Services Department’s report for the Mrs O’s children was sent out to both Mr O and her ex-husband which included Mrs O’s address and contact information.

Due to alarming and threatening videos Mrs O’s ex-husband has continued to post on social media over the years, Mrs O reported these to the Police where her ex-husband lives. Following what happened, safeguarding measures were put in place and Mrs O received a verbal apology but heard nothing further from Cardiff Council afterwards.

Representation

Unhappy with this, Mrs O approached Mr McConville for specialist advice and without hesitation no win, no fee terms were offered. Once instructed, Mr McConville lodged a formal Letter of Claim to Cardiff Council as clearly, they sent location and contact information relating to Mrs O and her family to her dangerous ex which put all of their family’s safety at risk. Mr McConville alleged that Cardiff Council had breached / invaded Mrs O and her family’s privacy under the Human Rights Act, had breached the Data Protection Act 2018/the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as confidence following their misuse of private information pertaining to Mrs O and her family.

Resolution

In response to this, Cardiff Council wholeheartedly apologised for what had happened and confirmed that they have changed their internal processes to prevent reoccurrence whilst also admitting liability. On top of this, Cardiff Council offered Mrs O £5,500.00 plus her legal costs in settlement of her claim. Mr McConville was not happy with this derisory offer for what Cardiff Council had put Mrs O and her family through so once he had relocated Mrs O and her family, settlement discussions were then had which culminated in settlement being achieved for Mrs O in a sum over £20,000.00 without Court proceedings being needed to be served. Mrs O’s family members’ claims remain ongoing.