Cyber victims ‘should get payouts for big data 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 forthcoming data protection legislation be rewritten so that consumer groups can represent the public when their personal information is stolen by hackers.

It comes amid growing fears that personal and financial information is being lost to cyber criminals, putting consumers at risk of fraud. In the letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph and signed by groups including Which?, Age UK, Privacy International and the Open Rights Group, they 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.

One in 10 people who have shared their details online are believed to have had them stolen by hackers last year. Companies including Yahoo, Linkedin and Equifax admitted to having their systems breached in recent months.

“The elderly, the young and the vulnerable will sometimes need a champion to take up complaints when their privacy is abused,” said Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group. Allowing consumer bodies to make claims could result in companies paying out millions.