194 victims of abuse had their personal data leaked due to errors by global law firm Kennedy’s on Tuesday, 26th August 2025. The individuals had signed up to receive email updates from a Church of England redress scheme. So we’ve created this guide to Kennedys data breach compensation to explain when you could be eligible to start a claim.
Kennedy’s is currently an independent scheme administrator for the Church of England’s National Redress Scheme for the victims of Church abuse. This scheme was given the green light in July by the Church’s General Synod, opening the door for redress applications. A month later, a failure to implement basic data protection measures resulted in the applicant’s contact information being exposed.
To find out if you could claim Kennedys data breach compensation, call us on 020 8050 6279 or contact us online. We also operate a live chat service, so however you choose to reach out, we’ll be there at a time that suits you.
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What Happened in the Kennedys Data Breach?
On Tuesday 26th August 2025, global law firm Kennedys emailed 194 individuals, as well as other firms that had registered to receive email updates for a Church of England abuse redress scheme. Human error meant the email addresses were not hidden, and thus every recipient including other law firms, church officials as well every abuse survivor on the mailing list could see all 194 email addresses.
Response from Kennedys
Kennedys put out a statement confirming that human error had led to the recipients’ email addresses not being hidden. They also confirmed that no other personal information was exposed.
The firm issued an apology and a full admission of responsibility for the error. Kennedys also confirmed that the incident had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Charity Commission and the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA).
A lawyer representing some of the abuse victims has called for affected data subjects to be compensated for the distress caused. One of his clients has already lodged a complaint, stating that their lifelong right to anonymity has been severely compromised by the data leak.
How the Data Leak Affects Church Abuse Survivors
A personal data breach of any variety can cause significant harm to affected data subjects. This becomes even more the case when the data breach concerns a highly sensitive and distressing matter like historic abuse.
Harm that a personal data breach can cause includes:
- Emotional damage and psychological distress.
- A loss of trust in the data controller.
- Vulnerability to identity theft.
- Concerns over safety and security.
Can Victims Claim Compensation After the Kennedys Data Breach?
Yes victims can potentially claim for compensation after the Kennedys data breach. The key thing to prove is that Kennedys engaged in some wrongful conduct, which violated data protection legislation.
Legal Basis for Data Breach Claims
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, a data controller, the party that decides when and why personal data will be processed, must protect your personal information when processing, storing or otherwise handling that data.
When wrongful conduct occurs, and results in a personal data breach, the affected data subjects could seek compensation for their losses and emotional harm.
Types of Compensation Available
Compensation may be awarded for two different types of damage:
- Material damage: refers to the financial losses, costs and other monetary impacts.
- Non-material damage refers to any psychological harm caused.
Both types of damage can vary considerably in severity, and what compensation you could be entitled to will depend on your particular circumstances.
We Can Help With Your Claim
Our team of specialist advisors are ready to assist you with your data breach claim
Steps to Take If You’ve Been Affected
If you know, or suspect that you’ve been affected by a data breach incident, there are some steps you can take to not only protect your own well-being, but also get started with any potential legal action.
Here, we examine what to do if your data has been breached.
Start Getting Evidence Together
If you were on the Kennedys mailing list, make sure you have this email backed up in your account. You should also have received separate correspondence from Kennedys regarding the incident. Keeping all the relevant communications together will help prove that you were one of the affected data subjects.
Medical and Financial Support
We fully understand just how distressing a data breach of this magnitude can be. At Data Breach Claims, our primary concern is always your well-being. You can speak to our healthcare provider about accessing counselling or other psychological support. The NHS, for example, have a mental health hub on their website.
Any professional diagnosis or other records of treatment you receive can also help prove that the personal data breach caused you harm.
Get Help From A Data Breach Solicitor
Seeking out professional claims advice is always advisable if you’ve been affected by a personal data breach. Our panel of specialist data breach solicitors have years of experience of dealing with incidents just like this. At Data Breach Claims, we operate a 24 hour advice service so you can find out if you are eligible to claim at any time. If you have a valid claim, you’ll be connected with a personal data breach expert from our panel of solicitors.
How We Can Help
Our panel of expert solicitors have years of experience in handling personal data breach claims. They can offer eligible claimants some very desirable No Win No Fee terms under a Conditional Fee Agreement.
This contract protects claimants from solicitor fees both at the start of the claim and during the claim. You will also not pay any fee if the claim fails. The only fee payable to the solicitor is if the claim is won. This success fee is capped at 25% by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 so the majority of any compensation payout is yours to keep.
To find out if you could claim Kennedys data breach compensation, call us on 020 8050 6279 or contact us online. We also operate a live chat service, so however you choose to reach out, we’ll be there at a time that suits you.
Kennedys Data Breach – Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve provided some answers to a few common questions below. If you have any further concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
What Data Was Leaked In The Kennedys Breach?
The email addresses of 194 victims of abuse were leaked to the other victims, law firms and Church of England Officials.
Can I Claim Compensation If I’m A Church Abuse Survivor?
Yes, there are certainly avenues open to survivors of church abuse to seek compensation. The Church of England approved a redress scheme for the survivors of such abuse in July of this year.
You can also talk to a solicitor about making a separate historical abuse claim.
How Long Will A Claim Take?
A data breach claim can take up to a year, if not longer. It can take time to establish fault, although Kennedys have admitted full responsibility and opened an internal investigation. Quantifying the harm caused will require the solicitor to review not only your medical evidence but also any financial documents.
Will I Have To Go To Court?
It is very unlikely that any claim for the Kennedys data breach will require a court hearing. As the firm has admitted liability already, the chances of any data subject having to go to court are pretty remote. Most claims of any variety do not proceed to trial and are settled through discussion and negotiations.
Thank you for reading this guide to claiming Kennedys data breach compensation.