In March 2019, The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) suffered two ransomware cyber-attacks. During the attacks, the hackers accessed the PFEW’s systems and encrypted several of its databases, making them inaccessible to the PFEW. The attacks also gave cybercriminals access to the same databases, which contained the personal information of around 130,000 police officers at all levels.
In March 2022, three years after the incident, the PFEW finally admitted liability for unlawfully processing police officers’ personal data by not having the appropriate technical and organisational measures in place.
However, in a shocking update, we have uncovered that the PFEW has failed to notify retired police officers of the attacks directly. Even if their personal data was compromised in this shocking data security failure.
Because the Federation holds officer data until their death (or their 100th birthday), retired officers could be involved in this data privacy violation, even if they were not PFEW members at the time of the breach. Many retired officers were affected but not notified of the PFEW cyber incidents. This is a significant failure by the PFEW.
If you retired before 2019 but were – or were previously – a PFEW member, you have the right to claim compensation.
At KP Law we have seen victims of similar data breaches become the target of cybercriminals, with instances of phishing, fraud, and identity theft. By failing to take sufficient steps to notify all those affected, retired officers have been left exposed and not given the opportunity to protect themselves from such threats. We think this is unacceptable.
We are helping over 13,000 police federation members who are concerned that they are affected by the data protection failure, and if you are a retired officer who was a PFEW member on or before March 2019, we can help you too.
Our Data Breach team includes some of the most skilled litigation lawyers in England and Wales. We have the experience, diligence and means to fight our clients’ corner and win. We are never afraid of a fight, and we are ready to take on the large organisations that other law firms shy away from.
Used to winning for clients against well-funded opponents, we also have all the resources and expertise necessary to take on complicated data breach cases in complex multi-claimant and group actions.
We are representing police officers in this case on a no-win, no-fee basis to ensure they have access to the absolute best lawyers without worrying about legal fees.
Ultimately, we act for clients who deserve to win, and we do everything we can to ensure that they do.
Any members who wish to invite friends and colleagues to join this action can do so when signing up.
Join our PFEW group action claim to ensure that justice is done.
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