What urgent contractual issues might arise?

Your organisation may have contractual liabilities to third parties, or may have claims against third parties in connection with the information breach. Knowing the possible scope for your contractual liabilities, and any possible claims you may have, will help inform your decision-making in managing the information breach. 

In much the same way, the incident management (IM) team should consider the contractual relationships between any relevant group company and the persons responsible for the information breach. Click here for further information about dealing with the employees involved.

Some potential claims and liabilities may require urgent action to preserve legal rights, in particular notice requirements and administrative or other matters. 

Even if litigation is unlikely, all rights should be preserved, as termination or other contractual rights may later be used as bargaining tools in any contractual renegotiations.

Any documents created and any communications entered into may be subject to disclosure in any future claims. Click here for further information in relation to document control and securing privilege.

To assess the contractual issues you will need to establish the underlying facts and causes of the information breach. Click here for further information in relation to the steps that should be taken to investigate the breach.

The contractual causes of action that may arise in data breach situations will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. There may also be potential claims based upon rights set out in statute and, in common law jurisdictions, in tort.