City College Norwich revealed that the information of hundreds of applicants has been breached. This ocurred when their details were sent by email to a parent by mistake. The breach occurred in August 2021, while the parent of an applicant was corresponding with the college by email. The parent was sent a spreadsheet which contained details of hundreds of the college’s applicants.

What information was breached?

The spreadsheet contained the following details:

  • Names
  • Telephone numbers
  • Postal and email addresses
  • Other details which identified the applicants

What happened after the breach?

The parent notified City College Norwich of the attachment sent to her in error and the college asked her to delete the information.

The parent did not take any further action at the time but has stated:

“I was really rather shocked by the level of detail that was included in the spreadsheet and it’s really bad that it was sent out so easily by mistake.

“Who knows what could have happened if the information had fallen into the wrong hands? I know I would have been distraught to think my details had been sent to somebody that I didn’t know.

“I’m sure my son’s details must have been on there, so I feel for everybody else. It’s quite a serious data breach.

“I just feel something needs to be done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Corriene Peasgood, City College principal commented:

 “I can confirm that we take any reports of data breaches very seriously and as data controller, I will investigate this historic incident as best I can.”

Can you claim compensation for such a data breach?

Although the information disclosed appears not to be of a sensitive nature, we have seen first-hand situations where the disclosure of someone’s address can cause serious distress if, for example, the person is trying to keep their details private to avoid being  exposed to harassment or violence.

Data breach claims have to be assessed on an individual basis so please get in touch and one of our specialist solicitors at DRM Legal will advise if you are entitled to data breach compensation.