Data protection claim ends in court ordering claimant to pay majority of council costs
A claimant who sought damages from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council after a data breach has conceded and agreed to settle the matter by consenting to the council's strike out application and by paying the majority of the council's costs.
The claimant brought proceedings against the local authority for inadvertently disclosing their name, former address and former mobile and landline number on its online planning portal.
The council uploaded an application for planning permission, including the claimant's personal information, when records were moved online. The information should have been redacted, but it was left in by error and was online for about eight months.
When the council was informed of the issue, it responded to the claimant on the same day. The council then investigated the incident, deleted the relevant information, and apologised to the claimant.
Following this, the claimant issued proceedings, pleading negligence, breach of the GDPR, misuse of private information, breach of confidence and breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He sought damages not exceeding £3,000 as well as a declaration, saying the data breach had caused him distress and anxiety.
The council's defence leant on a recent judgment in Rolfe and others v Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP [2021] EWHC 2809 (QB). In that case, which centred on an email that was sent to the wrong recipient, Master McCloud found that the "damage and/or distress caused, if any, was so low as not to satisfy the de minimis threshold implicit in the case law".
The judge also found that the claimant should pay the defendant's costs on an indemnity basis. "The reasons for this are the strong observations of this court as to the nature of the claim in terms of exaggeration and lack of credible evidence of distress, and that the court regards the claim as speculative given its de minimis nature," Master McCloud wrote.
Welwyn Hatfield made an application to amend the defence to reflect the case law's focus on de minimis threshold and for the claim to be struck out.
In the case against Welwyn Hatfield, the claimant, who had put forward several Part 36 offers, conceded to the council's position and agreed to settle the matter by consenting to the council's strike out application and by paying the majority of the council's costs.
Dr Christina Lienen, of Cornerstone Barristers, assisted the council on the claim. Dr Lienen was instructed by Rachael Simpson, Senior Litigation Lawyer at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.
Adam Carey
