Even before the Church of England Redress Scheme is ready to receive applications from survivors of sexual abuse, a poorly addressed message exposed the email addresses of all 194 people who registered for regular updates.
The problem originated with Kennedys Law LLC, which was quick to acknowledge its culpability and has pledged to prevent any similar errors from occurring.
“I am a Partner at the law firm Kennedys, and I have been working with the Church of England to develop the Redress Scheme,” attorney Helen Snowball wrote in a statement for the firm on August 28.
“I know you will already be aware of the unfortunate incident earlier this week in which an email was sent to people who had registered to receive updates in relation to the Redress Scheme. Due to human error and in breach of firm standards, the email displayed the email addresses of all recipients. I want to reassure you that no further personal details of individuals, or information relating to those individuals, was shared.”
Bishop Philip Mounstephen of Winchester published an open letter expressing his sorrow that the breach occurred and seeking to assure abuse survivors that the church will work to assure their well-being. The bishop led the Redress Board before General Synod approved the redress scheme in July.
“I know that words alone cannot repair the hurt caused,” the bishop wrote. “What matters now is what we do next and prevent this from happening again. Our focus must be on supporting those affected and ensuring that the Redress Scheme remains robust and fit for purpose. This scheme exists to provide financial redress, therapeutic and spiritual support, and an acknowledgment of the Church’s wrongdoing. It is vital that this work continues, because survivors deserve nothing less.”
The redress scheme must still be approved by Parliament before survivors are able to apply.
House of Survivors, an advocacy organization, issued a statement that urged certain actions by Kennedys.
“House of Survivors’ view is that Kennedys will need to grasp the nettle and take the initiative—and offer the data breach survivors a fair compensation veering on the side of quantum generosity,” the statement said. “It will save much time and anxiety, save Kennedys much in legal fees, avoid additional stress for the men and women affected when trust is low and tension is high. It will also enable Kennedys to claw back vital reputational ground. They will need to work imaginatively, probably outside of their usual playbook, and ahead of the Redress Scheme starting. We hope Kennedys might be keen to seize the moment as the loss to their business is likely to grow the longer they leave it. There will be some survivors who will wish to make civil claims through various law firms and clearly everyone needs to have the freedom to do this if they wish. That is everyone’s right. But in our view a proactive move by Kennedys will be the smart thing for the law firm to do.”
Douglas LeBlanc is an Associate Editor and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
