Data Protection

A Good Day for Group Actions

The Court of Appeal (CA) judgment in Richard Lloyd v Google is a game-changer for group litigation. It discusses the circumstances in which a claim can be brought by way of representative action, particularly where there has been a data privacy breach.

High Court blocks £1-3bn data protection claims against Google

In a recent decision relating to the violation of consumer data privacy, the Court has set out helpful guidance regarding claims brought under the Data Protection Act 1998, as well as in respect of the conditions which must be satisfied for a representative action for breach of data privacy to be brought (Lloyd v. Google LLC [2018] EWHC (QB) 2599).

Data Leaks and Employer Liability

In a group action claim for data theft, the Court of Appeal has upheld an earlier decision that the Morrisons supermarket (Morrisons) was vicariously liable for the criminal actions of a rogue employee who publically released personal data about Morrisons’ staff, irrespective of the fact that Morrisons had taken what the court considered to have been appropriate steps to mitigate the risk of criminal actions.

Be careful when hitting Delete

The importance of handling personal data with care was highlighted again recently with the High Court’s decision in Sabados v Facebook Ireland in which the court ordered Facebook to disclose the identity of the person who requested the deletion of a Facebook profile and the personal information it contained.