22nd
May 2015
A commercial and technology firm has sent out a stark warning to all landlords, that because of a new ruling, landlords could become embroiled in compensation claims if data on their tenants is breached.
If tenants can prove their details were widely made available and can trace it back to the landlord, then they will be awarded compensation even if they haven't suffered any monetary loss.
The warning comes from a recent ruling in the recent Google Inc. v Vidal-Hall Court case, the Court of Appeal made the rules abundantly clear under the Data Protection Act 1988.The Act's rules used to be interpreted that compensation was only due if personal information had been breached, if it had caused financial loss.
From the ruling of the Court, Clause 13 of the Act will is now clarified that claims will now be accepted, despite any monetary loss being incurred, for anxiety and distress, that can be proved, suffered through the breach. Previously the past interpretations meant that few compensation claims were submitted.
Obviously the majority of organisations do have stringent and robust data protection practises, financial risks can emanate from anyone who holds bank details of an organisation or individual.
Besides the larger companies that are targeted by criminal "hackers" to glean banking details of their clients/customers, because the restrictions have been lifted, then could be a flurry of new compensation claims under Clause 13 that could impact on Landlords.
John Warchus, partner of the firm, says: “Landlords, or indeed anyone in control of client data, will now have an even stronger incentive to comply with...data protection rules. The decision by the Court of Appeal is also consistent with the likely future trend of data protection legislation – the draft EU Data Protection Regulation will mean that someone can seek damages regardless of a financial loss. Landlords should urgently review their data protection procedures and strengthen where necessary as more compensation claims are likely and the amount of damages awarded is also likely to increase.”
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