Regional health services do not have to compensate 6.5 million people whose data was leaked during the coronavirus pandemic, a court in Amsterdam said on Wednesday.

The leak meant that private details about everyone registered in the coronavirus vaccination and reporting system were open to all call centre staff for a short period. Some of the information was also sold on by crooks.

The court said that that being worried your details had ended up in the wrong hands is not sufficient reason for compensation. The ICAM foundation, which brought the case, claimed €500 for every victim and €1,500 for those whose information had been traded.

The total bill could have run to some €3 billion.

People whose information was sold on by hackers have already been offered compensation by the health boards and some 1,250 have accepted.