A simple mobile phone repair leads to a data breach compensation claim

In this day and age, it's frightening to think about what could happen if your phone was to fall into the wrong hands. But it's not just thieves and cybercriminals you have to worry about. In a recent case, our solicitors saw the impact of what can happen when a phone company failed to protect a customer's personal information. And, we helped this client to get £1,000 in data breach compensation.

What happened in this data breach compensation case?

Our client's mobile phone was stolen so she ordered a new one from her mobile phone company. But, when it arrived, it would not recognise face recognition, passwords or PIN. She was advised to send the faulty device back for a repair.

She did this, but was then told by the company that they could not access the phone as she had password protected it. So, they sent it back to her to remove all passwords.

Understandably, by this time our client was frustrated. But the situation was made worse when her phone never arrived. And, two months after the initial replacement was ordered, there were still discussions going on between the courier and the mobile phone company about whether the telephone had been delivered to her address.

Eventually, the phone company said that they had found the phone, and sent it back to her. But, when it arrived she discovered that it was someone else's phone with all their personal details on it.

At the same time, our client's phone was sent to that person. And somehow, the phone was no longer password protected. So everything in her phone, including her personal details was accessible to a complete stranger. To make matters worse, our client's network provider chased her for services she hadn't been able to use. And they indicated that they would send debt collectors around to her property to collect what was owed. Furthermore, while she was told that her credit rating would not be affected, she subsequently found out that this might not be the case.

Emotional distress results in data breach compensation

All in all, what should have been a simple repair has caused our client a significant amount of distress. And, a direct result of this data breach, our client has suffered psychological effects, including stress and anxiety. In response, our client was simply told that this was a "mistake and hardly ever happens".

Committed to making sure she was reimbursed for her distress, we took this case on and managed to secure out client £1,000 data breach compensation.

Commenting on her experience with Hayes Connor Solicitors, she said:

"I found Hayes Connor on the internet. James was very helpful from the start, and put me at ease straight away! It wasn't straightforward, but James was patient courteous and very helpful. I needed to make sure they {the phone company} were taught a lesson that they can't get away with data breach! I would use Hayes Connor again and would recommend them to anybody".

Not just hackers

At Hayes Connor, we want to reduce the number of data violations taking place across the UK. To do this, we are sharing such real-life examples of data breaches to raise awareness of this issue and educate people to prevent similar mistakes from happening.

For more advice on how to keep your data safe, follow our #NotJustHackers campaign on Twitter and Facebook.

Alternatively, if you have been the victim of a data breach or cyber fraud, find out how we can help you to get data breach compensation by completing our enquiry form or give us a call to discuss your case in more depth.