Laptop with personal data lost - what are the persons rights?

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Blanca

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My friend has just found out that the laptop which she left to be repaired has been lost by a courier the repair shop uses.
On that laptop she had all her personal documents, kids pictures, financial info, etc.
What are her rights in terms of the data lost? Can she claim any remuneration for the misplacement of her data rather than only claiming a refund for the laptop?
Thank you
 
Your friend could try but I would doubt they would be successful. They could sue the laptop repair company but I cannot see anyway for her to monetise the loss of material on the hard drive. There may well have been a disclaimer on the agreement with the laptop repair company to the effect that they are not responsible for the loss of any data - I would think most reputable repair shops would have this.
Is she sure none of the material is on the cloud/google drive etc?
 
She could ensure that the repair shop notify the Data Protection Commission of the breach as they are legally obliged to do.

As above, compensation for your friend's loss will be limited to the value of the laptop unless they can demonstrate a further loss. These days, there is really no excuse for not having your data backed up.
 
+1 disclaimer point provided it is not in conflict with the law on unfair contracts.
See this http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1995/si/27/made/en/print

The relevant extract is this "For the purpose of these Regulations a contractual term shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer, taking into account the nature of the goods or services for which the contract was concluded and all circumstances attending the conclusion of the contract and all other terms of the contract or of another contract on which it is dependent."

IMHO consideration needs to be given to bailment.
IMHO the repairer is a bailee for OP's computer.
Further, I consider the repairer to be a bailee for reward.
A bailee for reward has a higher duty of care than a gratuitous bailee.

A bailee for reward is obliged to take reasonable care of the goods in their custody.
If the bailee loses the goods they will be required to prove that they were not negligent.

I see the issue of the courier as irrelevant to OP.
OP's contractual relationship is with the repairer.
OP is a stranger to any contract between repairer and the courier.
Repairer may have contractual rights over against the courier but OP stays out of that argument.

This appears to be a consumer contract for services.
Therefore, the issue should be within the limited jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court.
See this Citizens Information link FYI https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html#l0b797
 
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Reactions: Leo
Poor friend! Awful to lose that much personal data... But I agree with Leo... and if the laptop was new enough to be repairable (ie parts still available), then chances are that it would have, from the time your friend bought it, had the possibility of encrypting the hard drive contents so that no-one who didn't have an admin password and an encryption password could see them. Backup is the user's responsibility for most repairs unless a backup fee was pre-arranged. Depending on what was wrong, the repair could separately also have involved loss of all data on the hard drive and this would normally be explained to the user when the repair was arranged. So they will only get the value of the hardware if anything, and the courier company will probably try, by initial denial of the claim, to avoid paying that out too. Did the user state the value of the computer for the courier when the transport was booked? Who ordered the courier, the repair company or the user?
 
DeeKie said:
Under the gdpr damages are payable for non-material loss.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting angle. The laptop repair shop did not request the personal data, so its not clear that they would be considered to be a data controller or data processor under GDPR.
 
Case law shows you can control data without ever accessing it. It’s a controller
 
Thank you all so much for all your input. It is much appreciated.
The data from the laptop was backed up before leaving it in the store however, the person that accepted it in the store was not certain what access they will need and asked my friend for the password thus my friend is concerned that anybody can have access to her personal data now. Laptop was left just after Christmas. It has been now almost 3 weeks from when they realised the laptop was lost and so far there is no reply from them as to what they are going to do about it. They say they keep investigating while my fried has no laptop to work on. When she complained about the service they stopped responding altogether. Should she get a Solicitor involved?
 
Hooverfish said:
Poor friend! Awful to lose that much personal data... But I agree with Leo... and if the laptop was new enough to be repairable (ie parts still available), then chances are that it would have, from the time your friend bought it, had the possibility of encrypting the hard drive contents so that no-one who didn't have an admin password and an encryption password could see them. Backup is the user's responsibility for most repairs unless a backup fee was pre-arranged. Depending on what was wrong, the repair could separately also have involved loss of all data on the hard drive and this would normally be explained to the user when the repair was arranged. So they will only get the value of the hardware if anything, and the courier company will probably try, by initial denial of the claim, to avoid paying that out too. Did the user state the value of the computer for the courier when the transport was booked? Who ordered the courier, the repair company or the user?
Click to expand...
Courier was ordered by the repair company.
 
Three weeks is not that long for this process really, I'm afraid - which doesn't help your laptop-less friend. At the moment the investigation/claim between the repair company and the courier is probably still going on. If the repair company has stopped responding, I would make one more attempt stating your friend is going to be reporting the issue to data protection, as that may work to get them communicating again. And then go ahead and do that report, if not already made. If it's the repair company that I am guessing it is, then going into the store will work better than phone/email/chat. Your friend is the only one who can make the decision about a solicitor really. I am suspecting any final value will not justify the legal costs but cannot help with where to go on that decision. But I would inform yourselves online about the small claims court process?
 
Hooverfish said:
Three weeks is not that long for this process really, I'm afraid - which doesn't help your laptop-less friend. At the moment the investigation/claim between the repair company and the courier is probably still going on. If the repair company has stopped responding, I would make one more attempt stating your friend is going to be reporting the issue to data protection, as that may work to get them communicating again. And then go ahead and do that report, if not already made. If it's the repair company that I am guessing it is, then going into the store will work better than phone/email/chat. Your friend is the only one who can make the decision about a solicitor really. I am suspecting any final value will not justify the legal costs but cannot help with where to go on that decision. But I would inform yourselves online about the small claims court process?
Click to expand...
Thank you. She went to the store today and they said they keep investigating. Will have to wait a bit longer.
 
I would request a laptop to work on until they find hers. She should formally complain in writing
 
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