Wellbeing

Visa Faces Antitrust Lawsuit As DOJ Alleges Debit Card Dominance Stifles Competition and Impacts Consumer Prices

The US Department of Justice has taken a step against Visa, filing an antitrust lawsuit that accuses the payments behemoth of leveraging its market power to stifle competition and inflate consumer prices. The heart of the DOJ’s argument is that Visa’s dominance in the debit card market, where it controls over 60% of transactions, enables […]

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Samsung Galaxy Ring – A Promising Smart Ring, But Can it Succeed Without Contactless Payments?

Samsung has officially joined the smart ring race with its newly launched Galaxy Ring, aiming to take on the reigning champion, the Oura Ring. This sleek titanium ring, available in three colours and a range of sizes, boasts a variety of health-tracking features, including sleep monitoring, heart rate tracking, and personalized health insights. The Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy Ring – A Promising Smart Ring, But Can it Succeed Without Contactless Payments? Read More »

Fiserv Achieves Perfect Score on Disability Equality Index for Third Year

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a global leader in payments and financial services technology, has received a top score of 100 on the 2024 Disability Equality Index® for the third consecutive year. This distinction recognizes Fiserv as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.” The Disability Equality Index, established in 2015 by Disabilityand the American

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Understanding the Vital Role of Remittances in Global Development

Remittances, often defined as the transfer of money by migrants to their home countries, play a vital role in the economies of many developing nations. These transfers, which can consist of cash or goods, are crucial for the welfare and development of the recipient countries. Despite challenges in measuring the exact size of remittance flows

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Equal Pay Balancing the Scales in the Workplace

The concept of equal pay for equal work seems straightforward. However, achieving this balance in the workplace requires a legal framework. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 provides this framework, ensuring workers are compensated fairly for their contributions. The concept of equal pay for equal work seems straightforward. Yet, achieving this balance in the

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Klarna and Milkywire Bank on Biodiversity, Investments Grow on Trees!

Klarna, known for its AI-enhanced global payments system and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) shopping services, in collaboration with environmental platform Milkywire, announced the launch of the Nature Transformation Fund. This initiative is designed to facilitate direct investments by tech and financial entities into projects that aggressively push towards achieving global biodiversity goals. The newly

Klarna and Milkywire Bank on Biodiversity, Investments Grow on Trees! Read More »

Worker’s Resilience Leads to Victory in UK, TUPE Employment Case

What is a TUPE? In the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), employee Gary Lewis (GL) won his second appeal against his former employer, Dow Silicones UK Limited. The case focussed on the protections afforded to employees under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). This case centered on whether the changes to Lewis’s

Worker’s Resilience Leads to Victory in UK, TUPE Employment Case Read More »

A Closer Look at Recent Employment Appeal Tribunal Ruling on Reasonable Adjustments for Employees with Disabilities

In a recent tribunal ruling (Rentokil Initial UK Ltd v Mr M Miller: [2024] EAT 37) that dismissed Rentokil’s appeal, significant insights were gleaned regarding the rights of employees with disabilities. The case, which centered on the dismissal of an employee with a disability, provided an examination of the duty of employers to make reasonable

A Closer Look at Recent Employment Appeal Tribunal Ruling on Reasonable Adjustments for Employees with Disabilities Read More »

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Regulations Protect Consumers from Hidden Payment Fees

Hidden Payment Fees? Know Your Rights! Ever reached the checkout, ready to pay, only to be hit with surprise fees? You’re not alone. But what if we told you there are regulations to stop this? In England, Scotland, and Wales, you’re protected from hidden charges when paying for purchases. Here’s how: Empowered Consumers, Informed Choices

Regulations Protect Consumers from Hidden Payment Fees Read More »

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Post-Brexit: data protection
Card processor sends sensitive data to wrong address
24 August 2022

Worldline SA subsidiary Payone GmbH has been accused of breaching data protection rules after it sent sensitive employee payroll information to the wrong address by accident. The Worldline Group holdS a 60% stake in the Frankfurt based company who have a small UK market presence.

In June 2021, one of Payone GmbH’s ex UK employees (the data subject) received a “potential data breach notification” from the firm advising him that his salary, National Insurance data, nationality (Special Category Data) was amongst various bits of information sent to an incorrect home address.

This included personal information such as the former employees name, age and address.  It also included details such as the date of birth and the amount of annual work bonus he received in his bank account amongst other identifiable data.

Payone GmbH confirmed that this document was sent out in error following an employee making a mistake when re-entering data processed by their third-party payroll provider.  The error arose when the employee was fulfilling an Article 15 GDPR request. The error was spotted by the data subject when he noticed in an email version of the document that the postal address was incorrect. An attempt to notify Payone GmbH of the error went in vain as the document was already irretrievably despatched.

The data subject was alarmed with the incident which exposed him to the possibility of fraudulent activity, amidst reasonable fears his data could end up on the dark web and used by criminals.  Habitually resident in the UK he complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in June 2021. He similarly raised the concern in Germany via The Hessian Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HBDI).

The ICO reprimanded Payone GmbH for the error in their final decision letter.
Similarly, the HBDI cited a violation of Article 5(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) relating to integrity and confidentiality.

The ICO stated in their July 2021 findings that Payone GmbH, “should take steps to ensure that all personal data records are accurate and up to date. Holding inaccurate information, such as addresses, does increase the risk of personal data breaches and poses risks to the security of information”.

The HBDI confirmed in their October 2021 findings that Payone GmbH had taken remedial action. They concluded that a monetary fine would not be imposed on Payone GmbH as they had taken technical and organisational steps in response to the data breach. Data subjects could now request their data in an autonomous portal.

The GDPR, which came into effect in 2018, gave the Information Commissioner’s Office greater powers to tackle data breaches. The new ‘UK GDPR’ charts its own course after Brexit whilst seeking to maintain EU GDPR adequacy.  In extreme scenarios, organisations face penalties of up to £20m or 4 per cent of their global worldwide turnover, whichever is more.

In the years prior to GDPR, the ICO fines were capped at £500,000.

The data subject said: “I am just glad I spotted it; they were going to resend the document again to another wrong address. Prior to Brexit the process would have been commenced via the ICO who in turn would liaise with the HBDI on the data subjects’ behalf; but I found myself communicating with both authorities separately which was an additional step but in the end was surprisingly
effective. Unfortunately, Payone GmbH again sent my incorrect address to the
Workers Pension Trust in January 2022, and documents yet again went to the wrong address. In my opinion they have not learned from the first time and my complaint is sitting with the ICO yet again”.

The former employee is pursuing a remedy under Article 82 UK GDPR via
the Court’s of England & Wales.

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