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British Airways Settles Class Action Over 2018 Data Breach

British Airways settled the UK group action over its 2018 data breach in July 2021. The sum was confidential and separate from the ICO’s £20 million penalty.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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British Airways settled the UK group action over its 2018 data breach in July 2021, but the settlement amount was confidential. Contemporaneous reports did not disclose the total paid, individual compensation amounts or the final number of recipients. The settlement was separate from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) £20 million penalty in 2020.

What happened in the British Airways data breach?

The ICO says malicious code on BA’s website operated from 21 August to 5 September 2018. The code copied payment-card information customers entered while leaving the normal booking process uninterrupted. A third party alerted BA on 5 September, and BA contained the vulnerability that day. According to the ICO, BA notified the regulator and 496,636 customers on 6 September, then another 39,480 customers on 7 September. ICO penalty notice

The ICO estimated that information for approximately 429,612 individuals may have been accessed. Its estimate included several categories; it does not mean that every listed record was conclusively stolen, and it should not be confused with the number of customers notified.

  • 244,000 customers: names, addresses, card numbers and CVVs.
  • 77,000 customers: card numbers and CVVs.
  • 108,000 customers: card numbers only.
  • BA employee and administrator credentials, and usernames and PINs for up to 612 Executive Club accounts.

On 25 October 2018, BA said there was no conclusive evidence that data had been removed from its systems and that it had no verified fraud cases at that point. Those were BA’s statements at that time, not proof that fraud never occurred. BA statement, 25 October 2018

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What was the class-action outcome?

The High Court enabled a group action

On 4 October 2019, the High Court granted a Group Litigation Order, paving the way for affected customers to pursue a mass legal action. High Court judgment

BA settled in July 2021

BA settled the group action in July 2021 and apologized to customers who may have been affected. Travel Weekly reported that compensation was for qualifying claimants involved in the litigation. It said the amount BA would pay and the final number of recipients remained unclear. Bloomberg Law also reported an undisclosed sum and said the deal included no admission of liability. Travel Weekly, 6 July 2021

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How much did British Airways pay?

The settlement amount was confidential in the contemporaneous reports. They did not state a total settlement value or a per-person award, and the final number of recipients was not disclosed. There is no sound basis in those reports for quoting an estimated payment figure.

Can you still claim compensation?

The available reports describe a settlement of the group action in 2021, with compensation for qualifying claimants who were part of that litigation. They do not establish a current claims process, an open deadline or eligibility for someone who was not involved. Do not assume that you can still submit a claim based on the existence of the past settlement.

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How was the ICO’s £20 million penalty different?

The ICO imposed a £20 million regulatory penalty in October 2020 for BA’s failures to protect personal and financial information. Its investigation found that BA did not detect the attack when it began on 22 June 2018; a third party alerted the airline on 5 September, more than two months later. The ICO said measures such as restricting access, rigorous simulated attack testing and multi-factor authentication for employee and third-party accounts could have mitigated or prevented the risk. ICO announcement, 19 October 2020

The penalty and the group-action settlement served different purposes. The private litigation sought redress for claimants; the ICO penalty was regulatory enforcement. The ICO said monetary penalties are paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund, so the £20 million was not a compensation fund for affected customers.

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Outcome Purpose and forum Timing Amount disclosed
Group-action settlement Private litigation seeking claimant redress July 2021 Confidential, according to contemporaneous reports
ICO penalty Regulatory enforcement October 2020 £20 million

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