Surfing
through the web today, I came across a charming web page – from a firm of solicitors, with offices in Altrincham, Manchester, Leigh, London, Wigan, St Helens and Bolton who are evidently keen to drum up a bit more
business. This is what their web page said:
Breach of data
protection - compensation claims
The Data Protection Act 1998 imposes certain obligations on public
bodies when it comes to how they handle your personal data. The obligations
require those public bodies to maintain up to date and accurate records, ensure
that personal data is stored securely and not disclose personal data to third
parties without a lawful reason.
If the police or any public body/authority have failed in their
obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and you have incurred damage as
a direct result of their failure to comply with their obligations under the
Act, then you may be able to claim compensation.
For advice on data protection claims against the police or any other
public body/authority contact our specialist team on [redacted].
Data protection claims against Her Majesty’s
Courts & Tribunal Service (HMCTS)
If the court service has failed to maintain up-to-date records and
this has led to you being detained when you should not have been or detained
for longer than you should have been, then a compensation claim may be
possible.
Data protection claims against the local
authority
If the local authority has disclosed your personal data to third
parties without your permission or other lawful excuse and you have suffered damage
as a result, then a compensation claim may be possible.
Alternatively, if a failure to maintain accurate and up to date
records by the local authority has led you to incur damage, then you may be
entitled to claim compensation.
With budgets for public services becoming ever more squeezed, I wonder
how ethical it is for solicitors to drum up business that will require these
public bodies to spend more time (and resources) away from front line services,
addressing failures that (probably) arose because the organisation didn’t have
the resources to get things right in the first place.
It’s a vicious downward spiral.
Then again, this may be the only way to ensure that “fundamental
rights” can be safeguarded – by shaming public authorities into spending a
larger percentage of their budget on statutory obligations, rather than on public
libraries and the arts.
It might not be too long before further cuts in public budgets require
these “fundamental rights” to be recalibrated.
Ironically,
this firm is on a panel that delivers legal services to over 10 local
authorities. Lets hope there aren’t too many occasions when it finds itself
being asked to act for both the claimant and the defending local authority.
Image
credit:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmbulanceChaser
.
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