By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 28th July 2025. A child adoption data breach can have a destabilising effect on the people who were involved. Often putting the families and the vulnerable children at risk. If you or your family have been impacted by a child adoption data breach, get in contact with us today.
This guide will have information on what you can do if you have been impacted by a data breach, as well as what could cause a breach to happen. We will also look at some different examples of data breach compensation and what evidence is needed to make a personal data breach claim.
We also take a look at the recent Scotland’s People data breach. The Scottish government-owned website recently published the names of every adopted person in Scotland, and we look at what you can do if you’ve been affected.
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To see if you could claim data breach compensation, get in contact with us today. Our advisors are ready to talk to you about your claim and could connect you to one of our data breach solicitors. You can contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by using our:
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Select A Section
- What Is A Child Adoption Data Breach?
- The Scotland’s People Adoption Data Breach
- Laws That Protect Children’s And Parent’s Personal Data
- How Could A Child Adoption Data Breach Happen?
- Examples Of Child Adoption Data Breach Cases
- What Can Be Claimed In A Child Adoption Data Breach?
- Start A Data Breach Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
What Is A Child Adoption Data Breach?
When researching child adoption data breaches, you may be wondering what is meant by the term data breach. There are laws in this country that protect specific types of data. Any information that can be used to identify you is protected.
A personal data breach occurs when personal information is lost, stolen, destroyed, or altered due to a security incident. This identifiable information can also be disclosed or accessed without authority, leading to a personal data breach. A personal data breach can be deliberate or accidental.
There are some additional terms that may be useful for you to know as you progress through making a claim.
- A data subject – is a person whom a data controller processes information about
- A data controller – is an organisation that collects the data from the data subject and then determines how that data is used
- A data processor – is a third party who processes data on behalf of the data controller.
There is also a time limit when it comes to starting a claim for a data breach, typically up to 6 years.
For more information on time limits and how they could affect your child adoption data breach claim. Talk with one of our advisors today.
The Scotland’s People Adoption Data Breach
The Scotland’s People site, a genealogy site owned by the Scottish government, has published the details of Scottish adoptees dating back almost 100 years, with the most recent names having been adopted as recently as 2022. The site is operated by National Records of Scotland (NRS), which is an arm of the government.
The details included the adoptees’ first names, their adoptive surnames, and reference numbers that revealed they were on the adoption register. This information was taken down after 36 hours by the NRS after the mother of an adopted child made a complaint.
How Could The Scottish Government’s Adoption Data Breach Impact People?
The publication of this information could have a significant impact on many families. One mother affected voiced a fear that this could allow people to “track down” adopted children by searching their adopted name, which is often shielded through the court process. Similarly, this could cause significant emotional distress to adults and young adults who had no prior knowledge that they were adopted.
Can I Claim Compensation For The Scotland’s People Data Breach?
While the NRS has disputed that the publication of these records constitutes a personal data breach, you may be able to make a claim if your adoption information was made public. As we’ve already mentioned, in order to claim adoption data breach compensation, you must be able to prove that an organisation failed to meet their obligations under data protection laws, allowing your personal information to be compromised and causing you harm as a result.
If you’ve suffered harm as a result of a Scottish government adoption data breach, contact our team of advisors today. They can offer more information on data breach compensation claims.
Laws That Protect Children’s And Parent’s Personal Data
There are 2 main laws in this country that protect a child’s and a parent’s personal data. The UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 both seek to ensure that data controllers act accordingly and within the rights of the data subject when processing personal information.
These laws protect any personal data that can be used to identify an individual, such as a name, address, and telephone number. They also have determined data that can be classed as sensitive, such as a person’s ethnic origin, health information or sexual orientation. This data is classed as special category data under UK GDPR and needs greater protection.
Get in touch with us today, our advisors are ready to help you with your child adoption data breach claim. You can ask any questions you need to ask.
How Could A Child Adoption Data Breach Happen?
Some data breaches can be caused by human error. An example of this could be the child’s new address sent to the birth parents in error. This information could include the home address and names of the adoptive parents. The child could have been removed from their birth parents due to neglect. This could put both the child and their adoptive parents at risk.
Another example could be if, during the adoption process, the biological parents, adoptive parents or the child’s personal details were discussed with parties that had no authority to have access to this information. A personal data breach could also occur if such data is posted, faxed, or emailed to the wrong recipient.
For more information on how a child adoption data breach could occur, please contact us today. Our advisors can be contacted through the details at the top of the page.
Examples Of Child Adoption Data Breach Cases
It was reported that the details concerning adoptive parents and children who had been adopted had been leaked. Newcastle Council sent out a party invitation that seemed to leak the information. 2,743 individuals’ information was sent to 77 recipients through an email attachment by mistake. Names, addresses, and dates of birth were included in the leaked information.
Source:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-40637168
What Can Be Claimed In A Child Adoption Data Breach?
A compensation calculator is a tool that you can use to get insight into how a claim might be valued by a solicitor. Keep in mind that the evaluation from the compensation calculator may change when a data breach solicitor values your claim.
All claims are different, varying greatly depending on the circumstances, severity and impact of the injuries you have been subjected to.
The table below has information from the Judicial College Guidelines, a document that collates suggested compensation brackets for various forms of harm. Since these brackets are purely suggestive, they do not guarantee compensation. Please also keep in mind that the top row isn’t from the document.
| Types of psychological injuries | Brackets for compensation |
|---|---|
| Multiple forms of severe psychological harm and the associated costs (e.g. therapy and lost earnings) | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Injury: Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric Injury: Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Psychiatric Injury: Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Psychiatric Injury: Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| PTSD: Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| PTSD: Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| PTSD: Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| PTSD: Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 |
Types of Damage
There are 2 forms of damage:
- Non-material damage
- Material damage
In 2015, the Court of Appeal heard the case of Vidal-Hall and Others v Google [2015]. This case was concluded with the claimants being able to claim for non-material damage without having to also claim for material damages.
Non-Material Damage
Non-material damage is the mental or psychological harm suffered by a claimant due to a data breach. To help assess that harm, you may be asked to attend a medical assessment. The table above has a selection of the different forms that mental harm can take, along with their severity.
Material Damage
The financial loss resulting from a data breach is referred to as material damage. You will need to provide evidence of any financial impact the data breach has had on you.
Get in touch with us today, our advisors are ready to help you.
What Should I Do If There Is A Child Adoption Data Breach?
If there is a child adoption data breach, you should first try to assess how you have been affected and then determine the next steps you may need to take. You can do this by:
- Corresponding with the organisation that breached your personal data – you can ask them how you have been affected and see if they can identify what information has been compromised.
- Report the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – this is the independent public body that holds organisations accountable according to UK data protection laws. If you report the breach to them, they may investigate the case and, in some cases, possibly impose a fine on the organisation.
- Seek medical treatment – if the breach has impacted your mental health, you should access the services of a medical professional or psychologist. A breach of this nature can cause emotional distress and long-term psychological harm, so be sure to check what resources are available to you.
- Gather your evidence – you will need to prove the data breach and its impact on you if you wish to claim child adoption data breach compensation. You could do this by providing a copy of your medical records confirming the diagnosis of anxiety or PTSD, the findings of an ICO investigation, and bank statements or payslips (to show the financial harm you’ve suffered).
Contact our advisory team for further guidance on child adoption data breach claims and to share your own experience in complete confidence.
Start A Data Breach Claim With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
If you are eligible to seek child adoption data breach compensation, you may want to instruct a solicitor to work on your claim. One of our specialist data protection breach solicitors could help. They typically provide their services under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement.
When your data breach solicitor works under a CFA, there will be:
- No solicitor fees upfront to cover their services.
- No ongoing payments for solicitor fees.
- No solicitor fees to pay for the work done on your case if your claim is unsuccessful.
However, if your claim for a data breach has a successful outcome, your solicitor will deduct a small fee from your compensation for their services. The amount that can be taken as a success fee is small since its maximum percentage is capped by law.
To find out if you are eligible to claim for a breach of the UK GDPR involving your personal data, get in touch with an advisor. If it seems like you have valid grounds for starting a claim, they could pass you on to one of our solicitors.
To speak to an advisor:
- Fill in our ‘contact us’ form for a call back.
- Ask a question in our live webchat.
- Call 0800 073 8804
Related Data Breach Resources
Across Legal Expert, there is a wide range of articles and guides that you could look through, including:
- Social services data breach compensation claims
- Medical data breaches
- Lost or stolen device data breaches
- Counsellor data breach claims
Additionally, we have collected some external resources as well for you to have a read through.
- ICO – Minimise the risk of personal data breaches
- Gov.UK – Data Protection Complaints
- Gov.UK – What To Do After a Data Breach
Furthermore, if you need any further advice on a child adoption data breach, contact us today.
