Over the last couple of years, the High Court has been sceptical of low-value compensation claims for minor data breaches (see our previous articles here and here). Such scepticism is illustrated by the High Court:

1. criticising the “kitchen sink” approach adopted by claimants who bring overly complex claims with multiple causes of action and narrowing the scope of claims by dismissing misuse of private information and breach of confidence claims as in Warren v DSG Retail Ltd [2021] EWHC 2168 (QB), Johnson v Eastlight Community Homes Ltd [2021] EWHC 3069 (QB) and William Stadler v Currys Group Limited [2022] EWHC 160 (QB);
2. transferring straightforward, low-value data breach claims to the County Court as the most appropriate court to hear the claim as in Warren v DSG Retail Ltd, Johnson v Eastlight Community Homes Ltd, Ashley v Amplifon Limited [2021] EWHC 2921 and William Stadler v Currys Group Limited; and
3. condemning data breach claims for damages when there is little to no harm or the harm claimed has no prospect of meeting the de minimis threshold for receiving damages as in Rolfe v Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP [2021] EWHC 2809 (QB).

A recently published case in England and the Opinion of EU Advocate General, Campos Sanchez-Bordona, on UI v Österreichische Post AG in October 2022 have given further support to the approach of the High Court, although the traffic has not been all one way as the High Court decision in Driver v Crown Prosecution Service [2022] EWCH 2500 (KB) departed slightly from this emerging line of judicial thinking.

We take a closer look at these three cases below and provide you with some key takeaways.Continue Reading English Courts’ Stance on Low-Value Data Breach Claims Continues to Harden, But There May be Hiccups Along the Way