Yahoo Finance Government urged to make it easier for public to be compensated after hacks
The Government has been urged to make it easier for people to demand compensation when companies lose sensitive data to cyber attacks.
A group of organisations will today write to Matt Hancock, the digital minister, demanding that upcoming data protection legislation be re-written so that consumer groups can represent the public when their personal information is stolen by hackers.
It comes amid growing fears that names, addresses and financial information are being lost to cybercriminals, putting consumers at risk of fraud.
In the letter, seen by The Telegraph and signed by groups including Which?, Age UK, Privacy International and the Open Rights Group, the groups demand that the Government “gives consumers the voice they deserve when holding companies to account for loss of data”.
It says that the Data Protection Bill going through Parliament is “inadequate” for protecting consumers and “holding organisations to account”. One in 10 people who have shared their details online are believed to have had their details stolen by hackers last year.
Companies including Yahoo, LinkedIn and credit checking agency Equifax have all admitted to having their systems breached in recent months. But demanding compensation is notoriously difficult, with individuals often finding that the cost of hiring a solicitor outweighs any redress they may receive.
Allowing consumer bodies to make these claims on consumers’ behalf could result in companies paying out millions when they are hit by cyber attacks. Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said many people are confused about how to make claims if their data is lost.
"The elderly, the young and the vulnerable will sometimes need a champion to take up complaints when their privacy is abused, but the complainants are afraid, worried about publicity or simply find data protection complaints too onerous to be involved themselves,” he said.
