A Manchester-based law firm has amassed around 15,000 claimants for an impending data breach lawsuit against Microsoft and Google.

Barings Law began signing up clients in November last year as part of its effort to challenge the tech giants over numerous alleged violations of data misuse.

The firm, which has successfully handled several data breach cases, including the Capita cyber-attack and the leaking of medical records in the South Staffs Water hack, managed to assemble over 10,000 sign-ups in just under a month.

This came following an intensive two-year investigation by the firm which it claims found evidence that significant amounts of the data collected was being used in training and developing a number of language AI models.

Other alleged transgressions include collecting information concerning user voices, demographics, time spent on apps, and personal information including email addresses and the contents of emails.

Head of Data Protection at Barings Law, Adnan Malik, shared his thoughts:

“We are pleased to have accumulated such a vast number of sign-ups for this landmark case.

“The swift response from 15,000 claimants highlights the growing public demand for accountability in the face of persistent data privacy issues and our dedicated team at Barings Law is intent on seeing this demand met.

“With our history of tackling significant data breach cases, we are committed to challenging the pervasive misuse of personal data by corporations, ensuring that privacy is not sacrificed in the name of technological advancement,”

he added.

The rapid and considerable number of sign-ups for Barings Law comes as Microsoft recently announced plans to further enhance its artificial intelligence development by spending around $80 billion on the construction of data centres capable of handling AI workloads.

Meanwhile, Google has been the target of a cyber-attack in which hackers compromised several popular Google Chrome extensions including Cyberhaven, a tool which aids businesses in preventing unauthorised access to sensitive company data.

With AI training rapidly developing and data breach incidents on the rise, Mr Malik highlighted that the claimant numbers were a significant step forward in the firm’s pursuit of justice.

He added:

“We still have a way to go, but the numbers in such a short space of time, demonstrate people’s determination to fight for more accountability from major corporations and the safeguarding of their personal data.”

Anyone who suspects they are eligible can join the claim at Barings Law here.