Alex Ustych successful in two ‘inaccuracy’ data protection trials 

Following a two-day trial (Cheetham v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police), the High Court dismissed the data protection, misuse of private information and breach of confidence claims arising from a police inspector’s disclosure to the DVLA of her concerns about a driver’s medical fitness to drive. The case involved complex issues of causation as well as expert evidence from two consultant psychiatrists and two consultant ophthalmologists. The defendant successfully argued that a data controller is entitled to rely on an accurate recording of what the data subject had told the controller, even if it the data was substantively incorrect. The factual dispute about that conversation was resolved in the defendant’s favour, following live evidence. In its judgment, the High Court commented that Alex’s skeleton argument was “scholarly”. Unusually, the claimant was ordered to pay the defendant’s costs of the case (with QOCS not applying) notwithstanding the reliance placed by the claimant on an expert report diagnosing a psychiatric injury. Alex was instructed by Tom Lambourne of Weightmans.

In a separate case, another claimant’s ‘inaccuracy’ claim against a public body was dismissed following a multi-day trial.

Alex has significant trial experience of data protection and privacy claims, including those involving complex expert evidence in respect of psychiatric injury.

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Authors

Alex Ustych

Call 2010

Related areas

Information Law

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Data Protection

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