The fourth anniversary of the GDPR has passed!

It seems hard to believe that the fourth anniversary of the GDPR recently passed last month. To coin an old cliché, time really does fly sometimes!

The GDPR brought with it the expectation of much better data protection in an increasingly digitised society. Whilst we have seen some betterment, there have been swathes of events and breaches that have led to people claiming compensation using it as well.

The importance of the fourth anniversary of the GDPR

It is important to consider matters such as the fourth anniversary of the GDPR. The whole point of this pivotal piece of information legislation was all about better protecting people and giving us much more control over how our personal data is used.

In an increasingly digitised age that shows no signs or reason of slowing down, it is clear that data laws need to evolve and adapt.

A lot of organisations had a great deal of work to do in the run up to the introduction of the GDPR to make sure they were ready and compliant. What we would then have liked to have seen is how the GDPR went on to improve things for people, which has been somewhat of a mixed bag in my view. Having that greater control over our personal information is incredibly useful, but have we seen better protection so far?

Since the GDPR came into being, we saw the British Airways and Ticketmaster cyberattacks succeeding in the very year that it came into effect in 2018; and these were substantial events. The PageUp data breach event was around the actual day that the GDPR came into place, and a year later we saw the Chums event in May 2019.

And it does not stop there. Around the second anniversary of the GDPR saw the monumental EasyJet cyberattack affecting some 9 million people as well.

Just a year before the GDPR was the major Equifax cyberattack of 2017. They only faced a fine of £500,000 from the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) in the end because it preceded the GDPR, but it could have run into the millions had the event have taken place just 12 months later. If we were talking about the fifth rather than the fourth anniversary of the GDPR, it could have been a very different story indeed!

GDPR and compensation claims

It is important to remember, as we mark the passing of the fourth anniversary of the GDPR, that the new legislation has been somewhat helpful for claims. As a stronger piece of law to protect personal information, we regularly use it for the thousands of people that we represent for cases as the basis on which they could be eligible to claim compensation.

If someone has suffered due to the loss of control of their personal information, they could be eligible to pursue a claim for compensation now on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Can I claim compensation for a data breach?

“Can I claim compensation for a data breach?”

We are often asked this question. Not only could the answer be a resounding “yes”, but eligible clients can claim with us on a No Win, No Fee basis as part of our commitment to access to justice.

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