BEERG Newsletter - Data Privacy: Largest UK data-breach compensation claim settled

British Airways has settled a legal claim by some of the 420,000 people affected by a its 2018 data breach.  The claim, which involved 16,000 victims, is being described in the media as the biggest claim for a data breach in British legal history. The data breach had involved the leaking of many thousands of names, addresses, and payment-card details affected both customers and staff of the airline.  

Back in 2019 the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office hit BA with its largest ever fine at £20 million ($27.7 million) for what it termed the "unacceptable" failure to protect customers. The ICO had originally talked about fining BA over £180 million, but reduced this substantially saying in October 2020, that BA had argued penalties should be "significantly reduced or not imposed at all" because of the financial hardship airlines faced during lockdowns, when few flights were running.” 

A statement from the law company PGMBM, which acted for some of the claimants, said that the deal was “an extremely positive and timely solution for those affected by the data incident”. Referring to the ICO’s fine, it said that ICO had: 

“laid out how BA did not take adequate measures to keep its passengers’ personal and financial information secure… However, this did not provide redress to those affected. This settlement now addresses that.” 

BA issued a brief statement saying it was "pleased we've been able to settle the group action" and apologised to customers, reiterating that it had acted promptly when it had discovered the breach. The terms of the settlement are confidential as the settlement was reached through mediation, meaning that there was no public hearing or trial. While the settlement draws a line until this particular action, The legal wrangling over the breach may not yet be finished with some lawyers saying that there were still about 380,000 remaining victims.   

See BBC News story HERE

From BEERG Newsletter Issue #24 – July 8, 2021