Law firm fined £10,000 for breach of data law
LAW firm Trinity Chambers has been fined £10,000 for breaching data protection laws after sending confidential and sensitive personal information by email and in the post which was unwittingly seen by the wrong person.
The fine was imposed by the Data Protection Authority, which was further exasperated by the firm’s response.
The email and post, said the authority, included ‘highly confidential and sensitive personal details relating to the complainant and their family without appropriate security’.
The information was then accessed unwittingly by ‘unconnected third parties who had no way of knowing the nature or sensitivity of the content’.
A complaint was made in relation to these alleged unauthorised disclosures of personal data as a result of repeated human error, said the authority.
‘Whilst the personal data involved did not constitute special category data as defined in the law, it was highly sensitive and private for the individuals involved.’
The authority said it had imposed the fine to reflect the serious nature and impact of the firm failing to look after personal data.
But it also criticised the company’s response. ‘The fine also reflects the lack of engagement by the controller and concerns that there has been a lack of appreciation of the potential wider impact of the breach for the individuals affected.’
Data protection commissioner Emma Martins added: ‘We have been disappointed that there is little evidence that the controller in this case engaged in a timely manner with the complaint or appreciated the impact of the breach on the individuals concerned.
‘This is especially relevant considering the role that trust and confidentiality plays in the legal sector.
‘Individuals have a right to expect that those organisations who have their information will look after it properly.
‘In a small community, such as ours, the impact can be significant if that information is compromised.
‘This case further highlights the role of human error, something we have previously highlighted on a number of occasions.‘We understand that mistakes get made but when that happens, organisations must respond quickly, engage early and learn from what has happened.’
Advocate Andrew Ayres, of Trinity Chambers, said that under the law, the commissioner was supposed to have given advance notice of any public statement to enable it to respond, but this had not happened.
He said that a statement could be forthcoming on Monday.
Trinity Chambers bills itself as property experts that take the stress out of buying or selling a home.
