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What is a medical data breach?

A medical data breach is the deliberate or accidental release of confidential medical records to an untrusted environment, that takes place without your permission. Your medical data can be breached through the reckless care of its storage, for example not password protecting documents or leaving personal files/laptops on public transport. It can also be breached through more targeted hacks and data thefts by cyber criminals.

The impact of misfiled medical records

If your medical records have been lost, misfiled or disclosed to an untrusted individual and/or environment, this can have a devastating impact on you. Not only does this affect your privacy, it could also have an emotional impact upon you when receiving any ongoing or upcoming treatment you may undergo with the NHS or a private healthcare provider.

Patient Claim Line is part of a wider group of specialist solicitors with expertise in handling medical data breach cases.  Fletchers Solicitors was established in 1987 and has built a solid reputation in the medical negligence and serious injury sectors, with expansion into the data claims sector.

The medical data breach claims we handle:

  • Lost records
  • Record accessed when shouldn’t be by someone who shouldn’t
  • Misfiled records
  • Medical details disclosed to someone who should not have those details

Our expansion into medical data breach claims

With data existing and being stored in more places than ever, an attack on your online identity also means that all your personal information, could become accessible to cyber criminals. Cyber crime is now the world’s biggest criminal growth industry. It’s more important than ever that your data is safe and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. These criminal elements are continually finding new ways to steal your data, replicate your identity and use it to commit fraud.

According to Backupify, a leading cloud backup service, there are over 3 and half million data breaches every single day with a huge 58.6% of all data breaches being categorised as identity theft. With data breaches becoming more and more commonplace, it’s vitally important to realise that anywhere your data is stored, such as a letting agency, your bank, a creditor or any online retailer can become a target to cyber criminals.

How do I know if my data has been breached?

By law, if your data has been breached by an organisation, they have a duty to write to you to notify you and tell you what has happened. You would receive a letter letting you know that you have been involved in a data breach, how the breach occurred and what the impact may be. They should also advise you as to what data has been disclosed.

At Patient Claim Line, we take the careful handling and privacy of your medical data very seriously. If you have been affected by lost or misfiled medical records, our team of expert solicitors can walk you through the claims process and help you to understand your options. Take our 10 second claims test to see if you have a claim, or contact our experienced lawyers on 0330 107 5327.

Start your data claim now

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