Foundation demands 500 to 1500 euros per victim of GGD data breach – IT Pro – News

The ICAM Foundation starts a ‘collective action’ against the Ministry of Health because of the data breach in the IT systems of the GGD. Dutch people can register via a site, after which the foundation wants to claim at least 500 euros per participant, possibly through a lawsuit.

From collective action revolves around two IT systems of the GGD, with which source and contact researchers, among other things, could keep track of the medical data of Dutch people. However, employees could also use these systems to easily collect and download the data of the Dutch. It concerns the systems CoronIT and HPzone Light, data from these systems was actually illegally traded, appeared at the beginning of this year. Since then, the GGD has taken steps to combat this collecting and trading, such as disabling print functions.

The GGD claims to have informed all victims, al wrote RTL Nieuws in August that this was not the case then. The ICAM Foundation therefore says that the actual size of the data theft is greater than is known to the GGD and that it is still unclear how large that size is. In addition, the foundation refers to an investigation by the Dutch Data Protection Authority, which says that the security of the aforementioned systems is still substandard.

The ICAM Foundation is therefore starting the collective action, which would give the government ‘more incentives’ to ‘understand’ the importance of privacy and good security measures. The foundation demands clarity about the scope of the data breach, that privacy and data security become a hard requirement for new government IT systems and that victims of the GGD data breach receive ‘appropriate compensation’.

According to the foundation, every Dutch person whose data is in the IT systems of the GGD should receive five hundred euros. The foundation hereby refers to a ruling of the Council of State of April 2020. The foundation claims 1500 euros for Dutch citizens who have proof that the data has actually been stolen.

Participation in the collective action is free; Liesker Process Financing is financing the lawsuit. If the ministry pays compensation, this company will receive twenty percent of the compensation. This amount goes up to five times the invested amount; it is not clear how much Liesker is investing. The foundation claims that this compensation of twenty percent compensates Liesker’s risk. If the ministry does not pay compensation, participants do not have to pay anything.

The ICAM Foundation claims to be non-profit. The foundation will first discuss the requested requirements with the ministry. If the ministry does not agree, the foundation wants to start a lawsuit. The foundation notes that this process can take a long time and that it can take one and a half to three years before a verdict is reached.

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