Is My Employer Liable If My Details Get Lost Or Leaked

Employers are legally required to protect the data of both their employees and their customers from being intercepted by unauthorised users. This article focuses on the legal requirement employers have to protect their employee’s data against outside intrusion.
What Is Data Protection
Data protection is a legal requirement employers are required to provide their employees, within this agreement the employer states that they will do everything in their power to prevent the personal information of their employees from being leaked. The information itself should also be used in a transparent way that both employee and employee agree towards. There are multiple ways that employees’ personal information could get leaked including:
The Company Getting Hacked
Businesses are prime targets for hackers who seek to learn confidential information about the company for malicious purposes. Hackers often use internet scams such as email scams to trick employees into clicking links that can cause company devices to be infected by malware. If employee information is included in the information hackers can obtain, then the employees may have legal standing to sue their workplace for failing to protect their data. From an employer perspective, it is the threat of being sued and the thought of the PR fallout that often happens when companies are hacked that causes them to invest in better levels of cybersecurity. Companies that are hacked often lose a significant amount of trust from their customer base, which can lead to lower sales.
To reduce the likelihood of being hacked, companies need to ensure that they have created a comprehensive cyber security document that is available to all staff. This allows staff to refer back to company-backed guidelines, which can prevent staff members within the organisation from making cybersecurity mistakes that could lead to the company being hacked and employee information being leaked. If an organisational hack causes employees themselves to be hacked and their cryptocurrency accounts get breached, they should contact a crypto recovery professional who will be able to maximise the chance of the victim getting their money back.
The Inside Job
It doesn’t always require a computer wizz to steal confidential information from companies, it could be an employee who currently or previously worked within the company. These individuals likely have an in-depth knowledge of how the company functions allowing them to steal the data easier. If they are currently working at the company they are stealing information from they likely have access to the personal information of other employees at the touch of their fingertips. Malicious employees could decide to sell other employees’ data or the dark web.
Physical Device Accidentally Left In A Public Place
Another way companies could lose confidential data is simply by accidentally leaving a laptop or device containing the information in a public place such as on a bus or a train. Information on this device could be intercepted by a hacker who may use it for malicious purposes. Employer-owned devices that either have personal information on the device or access sensitive information from the device onto the cloud should be password-protected. It is also a good idea to install a GPS-locating app on computers that are taken off-campus, this way employers can find any devices they have lost and reduce the possibility of any data losses.
Conclusion
Keeping employee data safe and secure is extremely important for employers.