By Cat Way. Last Updated March 2024. Customer service can often require the use of, or access to people’s personal information to perform their work. This type of information is protected; organisations with access to a person’s personal information such as a name, address or financial information have a responsibility to make sure this information is only used appropriately and kept confidential and secure. If they fail to do this, and a person suffers harm as a result, the organisation could be found liable in a data breach claim. This is a guide to claiming compensation for a customer service data breach. 

This guide will talk about data breaches and the protections in place for the use of your personal data. It will give you more information about unlawful and inappropriate uses of your data, and inform you of how to take action against an organisation if they breach your data by failing to comply with data security laws. 

If you want to speak to someone directly, our advisers are available and offer free legal advice. You can speak to one immediately by: 

• Calling them on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact us page 
• Using the live chat feature 

Select A Section 

1. What Is A Customer Service Data Breach? 
2. How Should Companies Protect Your Personal Data? 
3. When Should Customers Be Notified Of A Breach? 
4. Examples Of Customer Service Data Breaches 
5. What Could You Claim For A Customer Service Data Breach? 
6. No Win No Fee Customer Data Breach

What Is A Customer Service Data Breach? 

Every organisation that uses personal information as part of its work has a responsibility to safeguard it. This means. 

• Ensuring that the processing of personal data is lawful, fair and clear.
• Collect only what is absolutely necessary for the purpose of the task
• Only process the data that is needed
• Always keep the information up to date
• Only keep for as long as is necessary
• Keep it safe and secure
• Be accountable for any data breaches

Any information about you, or relating to you is considered your personal information – and when your personal information is collected or used by an organisation, it is protected by data-protection laws, such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). 

A personal data breach occurs when the security, confidentiality or integrity of your personal information is affected. 

However, not all data breach victims will be eligible to make a personal data breach claim, as not all breaches are the fault of the party responsible for protecting the data. Firstly, in order to claim, you must prove that your personal data has been breached because the organisation did not adhere to the applicable laws. And secondly that this caused you harm. 

If you suffered mentally, or financially, from a data breach, you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation. 

To see if you could be eligible, please speak to one of our advisers about claims for a customer service data breach.

How Should Companies Protect Your Personal Data? 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is a body in the UK dealing in data protection rights. Data breaches can be reported to the ICO, either by the people who have been affected by a data breach or by the organisations themselves. The ICO in turn publishes quarterly reports of the data breach incidents that organisations have self-reported.

Each financial quarter the ICO publishes data security trends. Some common human error causes of data breaches were:

• Emailing data to the wrong recipient
• Data posted or faxed to the wrong recipient
• Verbal disclosure 
• Loss/theft of paperwork 

Organisations can help prevent the exposure of personal information from these types of incidents through: 

Data protection training: 

Mistakes resulting in data breaches can be costly to both the organisation and the people affected by the breaches. Data breach training can help employees better understand the seriousness of breaches, and encourage them to be more alert when performing tasks involving people’s information, such as sending emails or letters. 

Limiting Access: 

Limiting employee access to personal information, unless it is absolutely necessary, can help prevent data breach incidents.  

Securing Information: 

Actions a company can take to better secure personal information include: 

• Safely storing paperwork containing personal information, by locking it away
• Introducing limits to the amount of employees that can access personal information 
• Limiting devices that store personal information. 
• Introducing policies that prevent, or limit the carrying or accessing of personal information outside of the office. 

 If a company failed to take actions that could have better protected your data and this resulted in you suffering harm from a customer service data breach, then please speak to an adviser for information on the actions you can take. 

When Should Customers Be Notified Of A Breach? 

Organisations do not have to inform you about every data breach that involves your information. They however have a responsibility to assess every breach they suffer. If they find that the breach might negatively impact you, then they have to inform you as soon as they can. 

Our advisers can give you more information about the actions you can take against a company for a customer service data breach.

Examples Of Customer Service Data Breaches 

A customer service data breach can be a result of: 

• A lack of confidentiality: 
  • An employee working in customer service might share information they had seen about a customer. 
• Human error: 
  • As seen above, an employee could email a person’s personal data to the wrong address. 
• Loss of information: 
  • An employee could lose a portable storage device or laptop containing the customer’s personal data. 

Did you suffer harm because of a customer service data breach? If so, please reach out to one of our advisers to discuss the legal options available to you. 

What Could You Claim For A Customer Service Data Breach? 

There are two types of compensation in data breach claims.

The first is material damages – this type of compensation is intended to address financial losses from a data breach. 

Losses in a personal data breach can be because of: 

Theft – If your personal information was used fraudulently to steal money from you 

Loss of income – if you were unable to work because of the breach 

Costs towards treatment – if you were affected mentally by the breach, and spent money towards treatment such as medical costs. 

The second type of compensation is non-material damages – this type of compensation is intended to address any mental harm a person may have suffered from the breach. 

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are commonly referred to when assessing compensation awards for injuries. We’ve included a table of the psychological injuries listed in the April 2022 edition of the JCG and their accompanying compensation brackets: 

In previous years, you could not claim for mental harm unless you were making a claim for financial losses. This changed after the determination in the Court of Appeal case, Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc 2015, You can now make a claim for suffering mental harm independently. 

If you are looking for a valuation for compensation in your customer service data breach claim, then please speak to an adviser now. 

No Win No Fee Customer Data Breach Claims

If you’ve suffered harm as a result of a personal data breach, one of our solicitors may be able to help you on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you work under a CFA, you don’t have to pay any upfront fees for your solicitor to begin working on your case. Similarly, your solicitor won’t take a fee for their services if your claim fails.

If your claim succeeds, then your solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation award. This is taken as a small percentage with a legal cap, which helps ensure you keep the majority of what you receive in compensation.

If your credit card details or other personal data has been compromised in a customer service data breach, contact our advisors today. They can help you identify whether you could be entitled to compensation through a free consultation and may then connect you with one of our solicitors. To get started, you can get in touch by:

• Calling them on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact us page 
• Using the live chat feature

Further Data Breach Claim Examples 

Some additional data breach resources include:

• ICO: The ICO’s guide to making a data protection complaint 
• ICO: The ICO’s guide to taking your case to court and claiming compensation 
• GOV: A useful guide by the government on your data protection rights as a data subject 

Other topics we offer guides on include:

• Find out if a one of our solicitor could help you through Joint Bank Account Data Breach Claims
• Get more information on the Sort Code And Account Number Data Breach Claims process and find out how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you.
• Learn how to make a claim following a GP data breach with our informative guide.

Thank you for reading our guide on customer service data breach claims.

Guide By Charles

Edited By Melissa.

You will often have to provide your personal information to organisations in order for them to provide a service to you. Once you have given your personal information, the organisation has a responsibility to ensure they take reasonable steps to protect it. If they fail to do so, it could result in a breach of your personal data. This could lead to you experiencing psychological harm or financial loss. In these cases, you could make a claim for compensation against them. This guide will explore when data breach claims against United Utilities could be made. 

A guide to data breach claims against United Utilities

This guide will talk about the data protection and privacy laws in place to protect your personal data. It will also outline the responsibility utility companies and other service providers have as per data protection law.

Additionally, we have explored the benefits of hiring a solicitor who offers No Win No Fee services.

If you want to speak to someone directly, our advisers are available to offer free legal advice. To get in touch, you can reach us by:

• Calling us on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact page 
• Using the live chat feature below

Select A Section 

1. What Could Data Breach Claims Against United Utilities Involve? 
2. What Data Could Be Exposed In A Utility Data Breach? 
3. How Could A Utility Provider Breach Your Data Privacy? 
4. What To Do If You’re Affected By A Data Breach? 
5. Calculate Compensation For Potential Data Breach Claims Against United Utilities 
6. Learn More About Steps To Take Should A Data Breach By United Utilities Occur

What Could Data Breach Claims Against United Utilities Involve? 

A data breach claim against an organisation involves seeking damages for the financial loss, psychological harm or both that you experienced as a result of a personal data breach. A personal data breach is defined as a security incident that results in your personal data being unlawfully or accidentally altered, destroyed, lost. It can also involve personal data being disclosed or accessed without authorisation.

There is legislation in place that outlines an organisation’s responsibility to protect people’s personal data. The UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and an updated version of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) are in place to ensure organisations uphold the responsibility they have. The DPA was updated after the UK left the European Union and now sits alongside the UK GDPR.

If an organisation fails to adhere to the legislation in place, it could face investigation from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is a non-departmental public body of the UK government. They are able to issue fines and take other enforcement action if they find an organisation is in breach of data protection law. 

If you have evidence of a personal data breach, call our team to find out when data breach claims against the United Utilities could be made.

What Data Could Be Exposed In A Utility Data Breach? 

The type of personal information a utility company might process includes: 

• Personal information: This could include your name, phone number, address and email address.
• Financial information: This could include your credit card or debit card details. 

If you have evidence that your personal data was breached then please speak with an adviser. They can give you more information about when data breach claims against United Utilities and other utility companies could be made. 

How Could A Utility Provider Breach Your Data Privacy? 

According to Section 3 of the DPA, data processing is any action taken with information such as recording, storing, using or sharing.

Either a data controller or data processor could process your personal data and they must have a lawful basis for doing so. Data controllers determine the purpose for which they are going to process your personal data. They may process this data themselves. Data processors are responsible for processing personal data on behalf of the controller if required.

As per Article 6 of the UK GDPR, there are six lawful bases for the processing of personal information, including consent and legal obligation.

However, the data controller or processor only needs one lawful basis. For instance, if the data controller had your consent, they wouldn’t need another lawful basis for processing.

There are instances where an organisation might fail to adhere to the laws in place to protect your personal data resulting in a breach. For example:

• Your monthly bill containing financial information may have been sent to the wrong postage address, despite having the correct address on file.
• A member of staff may have made a human error and failed to securely store away your personal information. As a result, someone without authorisation may have accessed it.

If you can prove that your personal data was breached due to an organisation’s wrongful conduct, get in touch. An advisor can provide information on when you could make data breach claims against United Utilities.

What To Do If You’re Affected By A Data Breach? 

You may be wondering what steps you could take should a United Utilities data breach occur and affect you. After a personal data breach, you could contact the organisation to make a formal complaint. Any communication you have with them can serve as evidence should you choose to make a valid claim.

Additionally, you could make a complaint to the ICO. If they choose to investigate the complaint, you could present their findings as evidence to support your potential claim.

Furthermore, you could hire a data breach solicitor to help you formally begin a claim. They can help you gather relevant evidence and may arrange for you to attend an independent medical appointment. Your solicitor may arrange this in certain cases, such as where you have sustained severe psychological damage. 

To see if you could work with one of our solicitors, please reach out to one of our advisers. They can also help you understand when you could make data breach claims against United Utilities. 

Calculate Compensation For Potential Data Breach Claims Against United Utilities 

The settlement you receive following a successful data breach claim could comprise:

• Material damages: Financial losses incurred as a result of the personal data breach can be reimbursed under material damages.
• Non-material damages: Compensation for mental suffering, such as stress or post-traumatic stress disorder, could be awarded under non-material damages.

To calculate awards for non-material damages, legal professionals such as solicitors often refer to the Judicial College Guidelines to help them. The guidelines contain bracket compensation amounts corresponding to different types of psychological harm.

We have used figures from the most recent edition of the guidelines, published in April 2022. Please only use the figures as a guide.

You can make a claim for non-material damages independent of material damages, so you do not need to have suffered financial losses to make a claim for mental suffering. 

For more information about potential compensation payouts, please reach out to one of our advisers. 

Learn More About Steps To Take Should A Data Breach Claim By United Utilities Occur

Our experienced data breach solicitors can offer No Win No Fee services such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means your solicitor would not require an upfront fee, and they would not charge you any ongoing costs. 

Payment would come as a success fee. However, you would only need to pay the success fee if your claim succeeds. If your claim is not successful, you would not pay the fee. The fee comes directly from your compensation and is subject to a legal cap.

Our advisers could potentially put you through to one of our solicitors to help you make your claim on this basis. They could also discuss when you could make data breach claims against United Utilities. If you would like to find out more, you can get in touch by: 

• Calling them on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact page 
• Using the live chat feature below

Resources 

Below, we have provided some additional resources that you may find helpful.

• ICO: Taking your case to court and claiming compensation 
• GOV: Data protection rights for data subjects 
• NSCS: 10 Steps To Cyber Security
• Data Breach Via Dropbox
• Microsoft Teams Data Breach
• British Airways Data Breach

For information on when you could make data breach claims against United Utilities, call our team.

Written by Charles

Edited by Mitchell

By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 3rd December 2024. The UK’s data protection laws give protection to your personal information when it is held or in use by an organisation. Your phone number is part of your personal information.

If an organisation fails to protect your personal information, you could hold them liable for any harm you suffer as a result. Revealing your phone number without a lawful basis to do so, can be a breach of the UK GDPR, and this guide will show you how you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation. 

We will talk about data breaches, the UK GDPR, and the protection it gives to your personal data and give you information about compensation and how it is calculated in data breach claims. Our guide discusses the role of a data controller and a data processor and the steps they should take to protect your personal data. We will also explain how you can get in touch with our No Win No Fee solicitors to help you make your claim. 

For any information you might need, or questions you want answering about making a data breach compensation claim, you can also speak with one of our advisers. They offer free initial consultations and can even help value your claim and assess if the organisation could be liable. You can reach out to one now by; 

• Calling them on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact us page 
• Using the live chat feature 

1. Is My Phone Number Covered Under UK GDPR? 
2. What Personal Data Is Not Covered By The UK GDPR? 
3. Is Revealing My Phone Number A Breach Of UK GDPR? 
4. What Can I Do If My Phone Number Has Been Revealed? 
5. How Much Could You Claim For A UK GDPR Breach Of Data?
6. Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim

Is My Phone Number Covered Under UK GDPR?

Personal information can broadly be categorised into two categories: 

• Information that identifies you: such as your name, address, or date of birth 
• Information that relates to you: such as ethnic background, religious affiliation or sexual orientation. 

When an organisation records, stores or uses any piece of information about or relating to a person, the information is considered personal data.  

The organisation is now considered a data controller and immediately becomes subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). This is because there are rules for how personal data can be used, revealed or shared.

Data controllers have a responsibility to make sure any personal information they have about you is securely stored, kept confidential and only used appropriately. Data controllers can also be data processors, who are responsible for processing personal data.

Your phone number is your personal information, and if you suffered harm because: 

• An organisation revealed your phone number without a valid and lawful reason 
• An organisation failed to properly secure your phone number, leading to it being exposed. 

You could be eligible to make a claim for compensation for the financial or mental harm that you suffered. If this happened to you, please speak with one of our advisers for information about making a data breach claim. 

Is Sharing Someone’s Phone Number Illegal In The UK?

So, is sharing someone’s phone number illegal in the UK?

In short, if an organisation has no lawful basis to share your phone number, they shouldn’t do so. Doing so could be illegal and may see them subject to fines and investigations by the Information Commissioner’s Office. It could also lead to the affected individuals making a data breach claim.

What Personal Data Is Not Covered By The UK GDPR? 

The UK GDPR gives protection to personal data and personally sensitive data that relates to a person. 

This applies to: 

• Data that a person can be directly identified from 
• Data that a person can be identified from, when in use with other pieces of information 

Personal data that is protected may fit into two categories such as personal information and special category data.

As we have discussed personal data is anything relating to you, the data subject, that can be used to identify you or use in conjunction with other information to identify you. Special category data relates to your health, ethnic origin or your race.

Your phone number directly relates to you and is information you can be directly identified from. It is protected by the UK GDPR and revealing your phone number can be a breach of the UK GDPR. 

Is Revealing My Phone Number A Breach Of UK GDPR? 

There are instances where revealing your phone number will not be a breach of the UK GDPR. This is because the organisation will have a valid and lawful reason for doing so. The UK GDPR sets out the six lawful bases for sharing information which are: 

• Consent: In that you have given them consent to share your phone number 
• Contractual Obligation: In that they revealed your number to fulfil a contract they had with you 
• Legal Obligations: If they revealed your number to meet a legal obligation 
• Vital Interest: If revealing your number was necessary to protect a life 
• Public Interest: If it was in the public’s interest to reveal your phone number 
• Legitimate Interest: The company has a legitimate and valid reason to share your phone number. 

Instances outside of this, or instances that do not properly fulfil the listed basis are instances where revealing your phone number can be a breach of the UK GDPR. 

What Can I Do If My Phone Number Has Been Revealed? 

The first action you can take after a data breach is to make a written complaint directly to the organisation responsible. It should be written so as to maintain evidence of both sides of the correspondence  

Before beginning any legal action, you can also report the organisation to the Information Commissioner’s Office; an independent body in the UK dealing with data protection rights. You should do this within three months of your last meaningful communication with the organisation. 

Data breach claims address two types of harm, financial harm (I.e. financial losses) and mental harm (psychological harm, such as stress or anxiety from the breach). 

If possible, maintain records of your financial losses and medical records as they can be used as evidence in your claim.

A solicitor can help arrange an independent psychological assessment to produce a report as medical evidence. 

If an organisation breached the UK GDPR in revealing your phone number, and this led to you suffering harm please reach out to an adviser for information. 

Phone Number Data Breach – How Long Do I Have To Claim?

If you meet the eligibility criteria to make a claim for a phone number data breach, you must also ensure that you start legal proceedings within the relevant time limit. Generally, you will have six years to make a personal data breach claim.

To see if you could be eligible to make a personal data breach claim if your personal phone numbers were compromised in a breach, you can contact our advisors. They may also connect you with one of our solicitors if you have a strong case.

How Much Could You Claim For A UK GDPR Breach Of Data?

If you are wondering “Is revealing my phone number a breach of UK GDPR, and if so, what can I be compensated for?”, we can tell you how data breach compensation may be calculated.

If you have a successful phone number data breach claim, you could be compensated for material damage, non-material damage, or both.

Non-material damage refers to the psychological harm you have suffered due to having your phone number breached. This includes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and stress.

Legal professionals can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them value your psychological harm. The JCG publishes guideline compensation brackets for different types of psychological and physical harm,

Guideline Compensation Table

The table below shows figures from the JCG for different types of psychological harm.

Please note that these figures are not guaranteed because all data breach claims are different. The first entry has also not been taken from the JCG.

Material Damage

Material damage refers to the financial losses you have suffered due to having your phone number breached. This may include:

• Loss of earnings if you have taken time off work due to your psychological harm.
• The cost of therapy due to your psychological harm.
• Relocation costs (if you had to move address following a data breach due to fear of your safety).

You must provide evidence of the financial losses you have suffered to have your material damage compensated. Such evidence can be in the form of bank statements, payslips, invoices, and receipts. 

So, if you are wondering “Is sharing someone’s phone number illegal in the UK, and can I claim compensation for a phone number data breach?”, please contact us for a free case evaluation.

Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim

Now that you know more about making a personal data breach compensation claim, you might be wondering how a solicitor could help.

Our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis; this means that, with the help of a Conditional Fee Agreement (a type of No Win No Fee agreement), your solicitor will generally start work on your claim without asking for an upfront payment for their services. Similarly, they won’t ask you to pay for their work as your data breach compensation claim is ongoing. If your personal data breach claim fails, you won’t need to pay for your solicitor’s services.

If your data breach compensation claim succeeds, then your solicitor will take a success fee. This is deducted from your compensation directly and is taken as a small, legally capped percentage. This legal cap helps to make sure that you keep the larger share of what you receive.

Contact Our Team

If you’d like to seek compensation for a personal data breach caused by a breach of the UK GDPR, contact our team. Our advisors can offer more information surrounding the claims process and could potentially connect you with one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors. Get in touch today by:

• Calling us on 0800 073 8804
• Using our contact us page.
• Using the live chat feature.

Further Helpful Information

Below are some additional links you might find useful such as: 

• ICO: A guide to taking your case to court and claiming compensation 
• GOV: A guide to your data protection rights 
• Action Fraud: A guide to mobile phone fraud scams you should watch out for, if your phone number has been exposed. 

Thank you for reading our guide to making a claim against an organisation for a breach of the UK GDPR in revealing your phone number. We offer guides on other topics such as:

• Suing A Company For A Data Breach
• Stolen Phone Data Breach Claims
• Credit Card Data Breach Claims
• A guide to school data breach claims. Learn how to make a claim on behalf of your child if their data was exposed
• To learn more about the recent PSNI data breach and compensation claims associated with it, head here. You can find out what happened, who’s at fault, what to do and potential compensation payouts.

Guide By Charles

Edited By Melissa.

Last Updated 3rd June 2025. This guide considers what you could do after a data breach via Dropbox. Are you curious about what you could do? You could be wondering if you are eligible to make a claim for compensation.

Using software such as Dropbox in a workplace, or anywhere, can be a useful tool for sharing information. However, doing this could put the personal information of those employees at risk of being involved in a data breach. 

This guide has been created to help you understand how data breaches can occur via Dropbox and other software that is used within a workplace. It also includes information on what you can do if you have personal data compromised by a data breach. It will also introduce you to terminologies such as data subject, data processor and data controller. 

If any of the information that is present in this guide is helpful to you and you want to ask more questions. You can contact us today, and our advisors can aid you through the data breach claims process. This is how you can contact us:

• Phone – 0800 073 8804
• Live chat
• Via out contact page

Select A Section

1. What Is A Data Breach Via Dropbox?
2. What Data Could Be Stored On Dropbox?
3. How Could A Data Breach Via Dropbox Happen?
4. How Do I Claim If My Employer Breached My Data?
5. Calculate Compensation For A Data Breach Via Dropbox
6. Begin Your Claim Today

What Is A Data Breach Via Dropbox?

Essentially, if a security breach led to the unlawful or accidental loss, destruction, disclosure, access or alteration of personal information, this would be a data breach. 

Personal information or personal data is information that can be used to identify you whether directly or in combination with other data.

The following terms are used when describing how data is managed. 

• Data subject – the person that the personal information is about. 
• A data controller – the organisation that decides how and why personal data should be 
• Data processor – The organisation that processes data for the data controller. 

If you are involved in a data breach, there is a time limit for making a claim. This is usually a time limit of 6 years.

What Data Could Be Stored on Dropbox?

With software like Dropbox, there are various ways information can be stored. It could include personal information, including special category data or criminal. Examples of data that could be shared through software such as Dropbox are:

• Full name 
• Birth date
• Home address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Photographs where you could be identified

Connect with us today to find out whether you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation because of a third party’s data breach via Dropbox. Our advisors are on hand to discuss your claim and offer free advice on how you could proceed. 

How Could A Data Breach Via Dropbox Happen?

Data breaches via Dropbox can happen due to human error on the part of the employer or other third party. 

For example, the data subject could share information through the files on a programme such as Dropbox, with the confidence that their data is going to be secure. However, if the recipient accidentally sends that personal information to an unauthorised person, the personal data would be compromised.

Other examples of how a data breach could happen via Dropbox:

• Loss/theft of computer that contains personal data 
• Incorrect disposal of software that contains personal data 
• Failure to redact personal information when sharing information with others via Dropbox
• Alteration of personal data 

Unauthorised Access

Statistics gathered by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) demonstrate the impact on different sectors. (The ICO is an independent body that enforces data protection legislation in the UK.)

In the first financial quarter of 2025, there was an overall total of 3,081 data breaches. 75% of which were non-cyber security incidents. There was an increase of 4% in the number of data breaches from 2024.

Unauthorised access is one of the ways that a data breach could occur. The statistics show that 11% of the data breaches were due to unauthorised access. 

How Do I Claim If My Employer Breached My Data?

If a data controller or data processor has breached your personal information, and it has caused you financial loss or psychological harm, then you could make a claim for compensation. However, the breach would also need to be caused by the controller or processor’s wrongful conduct. For example, they may have provided substandard online security, which allowed a cyberattacker to access your personal data. 

Your rights as a data subject are outlined in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and in the Data Protection Act 2018.

If the data breach risks your rights and freedoms, the organisation should contact you and inform you of what personal data has been involved. The organisation should also report this data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office within a time frame of 72 hours.

However, although the organisation has to inform the ICO, there may be a reason for the organisation not contacting you. It could be that your information wasn’t a part of the breach. 

Furthermore, you could make a complaint to the ICO. The ICO could open an investigation into the complaint. The investigation could lead to the ICO issuing penalties, which can be to issue fines.  

How Do I Prove My Dropbox Data Breach Claim?

If you have suffered a data breach via Dropbox, collecting evidence is an important step. Here are some examples of the proof which may help to support your data breach claim:

• Report findings by the ICO: You can report a data breach to the ICO within 3 months of your last meaningful communication with the organisation responsible for the breach. If the ICO choose to investigate, you could use their findings as evidence.
• Payslips, invoices and bank statements to demonstrate your financial losses due to the data breach.
• Medical records and psychiatric reports to highlight the mental trauma you’ve incurred.
• Records of any correspondence with Dropbox. This would serve to illustrate what kind of data was breached, how it occurred and what steps have been taken so far.

For any assistance in collecting evidence, reach out to our advisors now. They will do their best to guide you through the entire process.

Calculate Compensation For A Data Breach Via Dropbox

Calculating the amount of data breach compensation that you may be able to claim is dependent on several different factors. There are two types of damages:

1. Material Damages
2. Non-Material Damages

Non-Material Damages

You could claim for non-material damages. Essentially, if you suffer psychological damage because of the data breach, you could claim.

If you use the services of a solicitor to claim, they could use the guidelines that are produced by the Judicial College to help value your claim. However, the compensation brackets that are listed aren’t the total amount of compensation you could receive. Compensation claims can be valued on a case-by-case basis.

We also have included a compensation calculator for you to have a look through and use to help estimate your claim. You can also call our advisors so they can value your claim for free. 

In the compensation table below, we’ve used examples of figures from the latest Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

Material Damages

Material damages are the form that compensation can take if there is a financial loss that has been caused by a data breach. For example, credit card information could be leaked in a breach of data via Dropbox and could damage your credit score. 

To find out more about the different types of damages you could claim for a data breach via Dropbox, why not get in touch? Our advisors can help you by providing you with more information and guidance on your claim. Furthermore, they could connect you with our solicitors if they believe that you have a valid claim. 

Begin Your Claim Today

No Win No Fee agreements are a term that you might have seen when researching data breaches or personal injury claims. Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) are a form of a No Win No Fee arrangement. 

An unsuccessful claim would mean that you wouldn’t have to pay for the legal services you have used during your claim. However, if your claim is successful, then you would have to pay the solicitor’s fee. The fee is capped by law and only taken from the compensation after it comes through.

If you are looking to make a claim for compensation and need help on where you can start, contact us today. Our advisors are available to answer your questions. This is a service that is available 24/7. We have listed our contact details below. 

• Phone – 0800 073 8804
• Use our live chat
• Use our contact page

Employer Data Breach Claim Resources

To end, we have collected some additional articles and guides from Legal Expert. The information that is contained within could be beneficial to your claim. Feel free to have a look through them.

• HR data breaches compensation claims guide
• How to report a data breach incident
• My employer exposed my mental health information in a data breach

Additionally, we have compiled some external resources for you to review. 

• Report a data breach
• Data security incident trends
• Making a complaint

Lastly, if you need any more information on a data breach via Dropbox, why not contact us today? Above are the contact details you can use to get in touch with us.

Written by Welsh

Edited by Victorine

By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 13th March 2024. Employers have a responsibility to do all they reasonably can to ensure the health and safety of their employees. This applies to all workers and any locations they are asked to work in. If you were attacked as a lone worker and your employer did not do enough to protect you, you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

This guide will talk about the protections afforded to lone workers, the responsibility placed on employers and when a lone worker could be eligible to make a personal injury claim after being attacked. We will also give you information about compensation and how you can get in touch with a personal injury lawyer to help you make a claim.

Advisers are also available to help you with any queries you have. To contact a member of our team, reach out by: 

• Phone on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact us page 
• Using the live chat feature 

Select A Section 

1. Attacked As A Lone Worker Injury Claims 
2. How Should Employers Manage The Risk Of Lone Working?
3. Protecting Lone Workers Against Violence In The Workplace 
4. Can I Claim If Attacked As A Lone Worker
5. I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker, How Much Could I Claim? 
6. How To Claim If You Were Attacked As A Lone Worker 

Attacked As A Lone Worker Injury Claims 

An employer cannot plan for every eventuality, but it is their responsibility to: 

• Be aware of common and possible risks that your work poses
• Make any task they ask you to perform as safe as they can practically make it 

This responsibility is known as a duty of care, and it is established in Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), and other workplace health and safety legislation. If you sustain an injury because your employer did not take sufficient actions to prevent you from suffering harm, you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation. 

This means if you were attacked as a lone worker, there are situations where your employer could be found liable for your injury. We’ll discuss them below, but an adviser can also help you by discussing your situation with you and assessing if your employer could be found at fault. 

If your employer would not be found at fault for your injuries, you can still make a claim for or compensation for suffering a criminal injury in a criminal injury claim. Get in touch to see which channel of pursuing compensation might be most appropriate for your circumstances.

How Should Employers Manage The Risk Of Lone Working?

Outside of being attacked, lone workers can face the risk of suffering injuries on the job without access to immediate help. This could pose the risk of someone being injured and might lead to them being the victim of violence in the workplace. 

One of the things an employer should do initially to mitigate the risk of someone working alone is to perform a risk assessment. This can help illustrate some of the issues that the lone worker might experience. For example:

• Are they working with people who may be drunk or are under the influence of illegal substances?
• Are they given authority over members of the public or seen to be enforcing rules in a way that could make customers irate?
• Are they carrying valuables or money that might make them a target for a robbery?

Furthermore, the risk assessment should consider whether it’s necessary at all for the job to be performed by a lone worker. In some cases, it might be the case

If you were injured or attacked as a lone worker, because your employer failed to take reasonable and practical steps that could have protected you, please reach out to one of our advisers to discuss the options you have. 

Protecting Lone Workers Against Violence In The Workplace 

In workplaces that carry a risk of violence, employers have a responsibility to do everything they practically can to manage or reduce that risk. This can include: 

• CCTV & monitoring. For on-site lone-working, monitoring like CCTV can let employers know if an employee is being attacked. Other systems, like two-way radios and portable alarm systems, can also help lone-workers communicate in an emergency. 
• Safe staffing levels. This is especially applicable to security work. An adequate amount of staff should be kept on hand to prevent an employee from being overwhelmed. 
• Providing Training. Before an employer asks you to work in an off-site location or perform a task alone at work without support, they should make sure you are sufficiently trained and capable of carrying out the task. You may be able to make a claim if you suffered an injury because of inadequate training.

Our advisers can give you more information on whether you would eligible to make a claim for your suffered injury after being attacked as a lone worker.

Can I Claim If Attacked As A Lone Worker?

Attacks on lone workers can happen for a number of reasons. However, to be eligible to make a personal injury claim, you will need to prove that your employer breached their duty of care and, as a result, you suffered injuries.

Collecting sufficient evidence could help support your personal injury claim. Some examples of the evidence you could collect to help support your claim include:

• CCTV footage of the incident.
• Photographs of any visible injuries you suffered.
• The contact details of any eyewitnesses to the incident.
• Medical evidence regarding the injuries you suffered, such as a copy of your medical records.

As well as collecting evidence, you will need to ensure you start your claim within the relevant limitation period. Generally, you will have three years to start a personal injury claim from the date of the incident that caused your injuries. However, there are certain exceptions to this three-year time limit.

To find out if you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim if your safety as a lone worker was compromised, you can contact our advisors. They can also provide you with more information on the evidence needed if you are making your claim through the CICA.

I Was Attacked As A Lone Worker, How Much Could I Claim? 

If your employer’s failure to fulfil their duty of care to you contributed to your injury, you may be able to file a personal injury claim against them. Compensation could address the injury you suffered and any financial losses you may have incurred because of the injury. 

A head of your claim known as general damages can compensate you for the pain and suffering that your injuries have caused you. To illustrate potential compensation awards, we’ve included some injuries, and potential compensation brackets for those injuries, as listed in the latest edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The brackets are created from previous court settlements and are used by legal professionals to help value claims.

You could also seek compensation under special damages for any financial impact that the injury has had on you. This can account for the money you have lost. You can also be compensated for the money you expect to lose out on until your injury heals. 

If you want to have your claim valued, our advisers can talk to you in-depth about your claim, inform you about other costs you can claim on and offer you a compensation estimate after suffering an assault at work due to negligence. 

How To Claim If You Were Attacked As A Lone Worker 

If you are looking for legal help, it is possible to hire a work accident solicitor to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. This No Win No Fee agreement or Conditional Fee Agreement means they would not require an upfront fee, and they will not charge you ongoing fees as they handle your claim.  

Instead, they would charge you a success fee, which will only be collected if your claim is successful. If your claim is not successful, they will not charge you the success fee. 

A solicitor’s help can be beneficial in pursuing compensation. They have experience with dealing in claims, corresponding with defendants and know the law around employment and employers’ responsibilities. If you were attacked as a lone worker, a solicitor can help make the process of claiming run more smoothly than it otherwise would.  

Please speak with one of our advisers now by: 

• Phone on 0800 073 8804 
• Using our contact us page
• Using the live chat feature 

Learn More About Workplace Violence 

We’ve included some additional links you might find useful including: 

• HSE: The HSE have a guide on managing the risks of working alone 
• The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
• When to go to A&E according to the NHS

Thank you for reading our guide on what to do if you were attacked as a lone worker. We offer guides on other topics such as:

• Defective Work Equipment Injury Claims
• Claiming Compensation For Suffering Stress at Work
• Claims For Being Dismissed After Suffering An Accident At Work

Please get in touch with our advisers for any more information you might need.

By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 4th March 2024. Any organisation that uses your personal information has a responsibility to make sure that it is properly stored and secured. If you suffered harm because someone accessed your information after your personal data was not locked away or secured, you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

This is a guide about data breaches. We’ll inform you of the responsibilities an organisation has in securing your personal data and the different ways they can be found liable for a data breach. We’ll also inform you of the steps you can take if you were affected by a data breach and explain how you can contact a solicitor to help you make a claim for compensation.

Our advisers can also help you with any questions you have about data breaches and making a claim. You can reach out to one now using:

• Our number 0800 073 8804 
• Our contact us page 
• The live chat feature

Select A Section 

1. My Personal Data Was Not Locked Away Or Secured, Can I Claim? 
2. How Should Personal Data Be Handled? 
3. What Constitutes A Breach Of Data Protection? 
4. How To Claim If Your Personal Data Was Not Locked Away Or Secured 
5. What Could You Claim If Your Personal Data Was Not Locked Away Or Secured 
6. Begin Your Personal Data Breach Claim 

My Personal Data Was Not Locked Away Or Secured, Can I Claim? 

When an organisation collects your personal data they become a data controller and are subject to the rules and regulations set out in data protection laws such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. 

One of the responsibilities they have under the legislation is the safe storing and securing of your personal data. Once it is provided to them, they are data controllers and it is their responsibility to safeguard it. If it is accessed by an unauthorised person, because it was poorly or insecurely stored; the organisation can be found liable for any resulting harm you suffer. You could be eligible to make a claim for compensation against them. 

You can speak to an adviser now, for more information on what you can do if your data was exposed because your personal information was not locked away or secured. 

Sensitive Vs Personal Data 

While all personal data is protected, certain types of personal data come with more protections, special category data for example. This includes information about a person’s; 

• Racial or ethnic origin; 
• Political opinions; 
• Religious or philosophical beliefs; 
• Trade union membership; 
• Genetic data; 
• Biometric data (when used for identification); 
• Health data; 
• Sex life 
• Sexual orientation. 

Organisations have to present a valid reason for collecting or processing this type of data.

Please speak to an adviser if special category data about you was exposed because your personal data was not secured or locked away by an organisation.

How Should Personal Data Be Handled? 

Data security should be a priority in all aspects of handling personal data. Organisations should have good data management and privacy policies in place, and make sure they are being observed. This can be in regards to: 

Storage:  

Whether the data is stored physically or digitally.  

Physical files should be well categorised and if they contain personal information, locked away. Digital files should similarly be carefully managed. Files stored digitally should come with good IT and cybersecurity practices such as strong passwords and limiting access to the data storage devices. 

Access: 

Limiting employee access to personal information can help prevent data breaches. Access to personal information should only be granted to be people who need it and they should be made fully aware of data protection standards. 

Collecting Data: 

Smart data policies should be in place when collecting data. This can include not collecting more data than is necessary. An action such as this can limit the likelihood of a person being identified or harmed in a data breach incident.

Retention:  

It’s recommended not to retain a person’s data once it has served its purpose. This can help prevent and limit the exposure of a data breach. 

If you suffered harm because a company did not properly manage your data, an adviser can inform you of the steps to take to make a claim for compensation. 

What Constitutes A Breach Of Data Protection? 

Some common causes of data breaches in organisations are 

Phishing attacks:  

Phishing is the act of a scammer pretending to be a different person or organisation in an email, in order to convince someone into sending their information. 

The data controller has a responsibility to protect themselves from cyber-attacks.

Poor Administrative Processes:  

Poor security practices can lead to the exposure of people’s data.

Actions such as: 

• Weak, or shared passwords across sites 
• Accessing work or personal data on shared computers 
• Failing to lock away or secure personal information. 

Can leave data vulnerable to unauthorised access. 

Mis-delivery Of Data:  

Human errors can occur when processing personal data. Acts like sending information to the wrong postal address, wrong email address or wrong phone numbers can lead to the exposure of people’s personal information. 

If you suffered harm because your data was exposed because of poor data management, reach out to one of our advisers for information on the steps you can take. 

How To Claim If Your Personal Data Was Not Locked Away Or Secured 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recommends making a complaint in writing that details the breach and the harm you suffered to the data controller. 

If you are unsatisfied with their response, you can report the data breach incident to the ICO. You must do this within three months of your last communication with the organisation. 

A data breach solicitor can help you formally compose any letters and help with collecting supporting evidence such as: 

• Details of the breach 
• Evidence of financial harm
• Evidence of mental harm 

Please speak with one of our advisers to see if a data breach solicitor could help you begin action against an organisation for the harm you suffered. 

What Could You Claim For A Personal Data Breach

To be eligible to make a personal data breach claim you must be able to prove how the data controller was liable for the breach. This may mean showing how they failed to comply with data protection laws in this country. You must have also suffered financial losses and/or mental harm. 

Financial losses could be because: 

• Your personal data was used to steal money from you 
• You had to spend money towards treatment or care 
• You were unable to, or lost out on work, because of the breach. 

You can seek compensation for this, and similar losses from the breach, under material damages. 

For the mental harm, you would seek non-material damages.  

Below is a table of the psychological injuries listed in 2022 edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to show you potential compensation awards. 

The decision in the Court of Appeal case, Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc 2015, means you can seek out a claim for mental harm without having suffered financial losses. 

For more information on the compensation you could be awarded for suffering a data breach, please speak to one of our advisers.

Begin Your Personal Data Breach Claim 

If you’re eligible to make a personal data breach compensation claim, you may wish to have a solicitor help you. One of our data breach solicitors could help you with your particular case. They could assist you with gathering evidence, ensuring your claim is filed within the correct time limit, and guiding you through the claim process.

Additionally, they may offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to you, which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. Under a CFA, you will not be required to pay for your solicitor’s services if your claim were to be unsuccessful.

To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors for your personal data breach claim, you can contact our advisors. Our team is available 7 days a week to help you. You can contact our advisors by:

• Calling 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online.
• Use our live chat service.

Learn More About Securing Your Data 

We’ve included some additional links you might find useful including: 

• ICO: Make A Complaint – A guide showing you how to formally make a complaint against a company  
• ICO: Taking Your Case To Court – A guide informing you what the claims process would entail 
• GOV: Data Protection Rights – The government’s guide explaining your data protection rights

Thank you for reading our guide on making a claim because your personal data was not locked away or secured. We also offer guides on other topics such as: 

• Making A Claim Against An Employer For A Personal Data Breach
• Stolen Phone Data Breach Claims
• Stolen Computer Data Breach Claims

Please get in touch with our advisers for any more information you might need.

Have you suffered harm because of a UK GDPR salary information data breach? If your employer or another organisation failed to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and you have suffered harm as a result, you may be able to claim.

A personal data breach of your salary information can cause significant harm to both your psychological well-being and your finances. In this article, we will explain how to make a claim after suffering harm in these areas, and we will also discuss who could be eligible for compensation following a breach.

Following this, we will discuss how our No Win No Fee solicitors could help you start your claim. For more information or for any questions you may have that aren’t covered in this guide, get in touch with our team of advisors today by”

• Calling on 0800 073 8804
• Contacting us online
• Using the ‘live support’ option below

Select A Section

1. What Is A Data Breach Of Salary Information?
2. Is Salary Information Considered Personal Information?
3. How Should Salary Information Be Protected?
4. When Are You Eligible To Claim Compensation?
5. UK GDPR Salary Information Data Breach Compensation Calculator
6. Start A UK GDPR Salary Information Data Breach Claim

What Is A Data Breach Of Salary Information?

Your personal data is any information that could identify you. For example, your full name is personal data, and so is your postage address and your email address. As such, your salary information could also be considered personal data.

For example, if you work at a small company and earn an amount per year that is unique to anyone else at the company, then your wage could be used to identify you. Similarly, salary information can include your payslip, which could contain your phone number, national insurance number and date of birth.

If the integrity, availability, or confidentiality of this data is affected by a security incident, this is a personal data breach. We will discuss the criteria for making a claim further on in this article. Read on to learn more, or contact our team to start your UK GDPR salary information claim.

Is Salary Information Considered Personal Information?

As we have already mentioned, any information that could be used to identify you as a living person is personal information. As such, certain aspects of your salary information could be classed as personal data.

Some examples of salary information that could be protected by the UK GDPR and DPA include:

• Your wages
• Payslips
• Tax information, such as what tax band you are in
• Your billing information, such as banking details

You may be able to make a UK GDPR salary information data breach claim if your personal data was involved in a personal data breach. To learn more, get in touch with our advisors.

How Should Salary Information Be Protected?

The UK GDPR and the DPA set out the steps that employers and other organisations should take in order to protect the data of UK residents. Those who handle personal data in this capacity are known as data controllers and data processors.

A data controller decides how they are going to use your data, as well as why. They are responsible for establishing a lawful basis for processing your data. Following this, a data processor will process your data by following the instructions of the controller.

One step that data controllers and processors must take to keep your personal data secure ensuring their cybersecurity policies are up to standard. If they aren’t, and this allows cybercriminals access to your personal data,  you may be eligible to claim.

Read on to learn more about claims for a UK GDPR salary information data breach, or get in touch to get started.

When Are You Eligible To Claim Compensation?

As we have already mentioned, in order to be eligible to make a compensation claim, your case must meet the criteria set out by the UK GDPR. This means that:

• The data controller or processor must engage in wrongful conduct, which causes a personal data breach
• This breach affects your personal data
• You experience harm because of this

If your case meets the criteria above, then you may be eligible to star a personal data breach claim. However, you must ensure that you begin your claim within the relevant time limit. This is usually six years for a general personal data breach claim, but it is one year for claims that are made against public bodies.

To learn more about making a personal data breach claim, get in touch with our team of advisors. They can tell you if your claim could be valid and offer more advice surrounding the time limit.

UK GDPR Salary Information Data Breach Compensation Calculator

There are two areas of harm that you may be able to pursue compensation for in a claim: material damage and non-material damage. Material damage is the harm you suffer financially, and material damage compensation aims to address the financial impacts of a personal data breach.

For example, a breach of your salary information could result in criminals making illegal charges on your credit card or debit card or damaging your credit score.

We have formed a table using figures taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that helps legal professionals value claims through guideline settlement amounts. The amounts above reflect the JCG brackets for non-material damage. Non-material damage refers to the psychological injuries you suffer as a result of the breach.

For example, if you suffer from anxiety due to a data breach, this could be covered by non-material damage compensation.

Please note that these figures are only guidelines. The actual amount of compensation that you could receive may vary. To learn more, or to get a free consultation, get in touch with our advisors today.

Start A UK GDPR Salary Information Data Breach Claim

If you are interested in making a UK GDPR salary information data breach claim, our advisors may be able to help. They could offer their services to you through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). With the help of a CFA, you can access expert legal representation and advice to help you through the claims process, typically without paying any fees to your solicitor.

The only fee you are generally asked to pay to your solicitor under this type of No Win No Fee arrangement is a success fee. This is taken from your compensation as a percentage with a legal cap. But, unsuccessful claimants generally do not pay a fee to their solicitor.

In conclusion, why not get in touch to see how a UK GDPR salary information No Win No Fee claim could help you by:

• Calling on 0800 073 8804
• Contacting us online
• Using the ‘live support’ option below

Where You Could Read More

To learn more from our helpful guides, we recommend:

• Adoption data breach claims
• Private healthcare data breach compensation
• Sexual health clinic data breach claims
• Sickness At Work Data Breach Compensation Claims
• UK GDPR Breach Compensation Claims
• Child Custody Data Breach Claims
• Estate Agent Data Breach Claims
• Discrimination Data Breach Claims

Or, for further resources:

• ICO – 6 Lawful Bases
• GOV – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• NHS – Stress

Get in touch today to learn more about making a UK GDPR salary information data breach claim.

Written by Waters

Edited by Hampton

By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 28th April 2025. This guide explains when you may be entitled to compensation because your employer has breached the UK GDPR. Personal data is any information that can be used to identify someone, and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation, known as UK GDPR, are laws that set out what steps a business – including your employer – must take to secure it.

A data breach is a security incident in which the availability, confidentiality, or integrity of your personal data is compromised. This could happen if your workplace is the deliberate target of a phishing attack, or if your employer fails to take reasonable care of your personal data.

While this can be distressing, there is help at hand. Read on for more information about how a breach could come about, how much compensation you may be entitled to and how our expert solicitors can help.

If you think you have a claim, give us a call at 0800 073 8804 or fill out our contact us form and one of our experts will get right back to you.

Select A Section

1. How Could Your Employer Have Breached The UK GDPR?
2. What Data Could Employers Handle?
3. When Can You Claim After Your Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?
4. How Should Employers Protect Employees’ Data?
5. What Happens If Your Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?
6. How Much Could You Claim If An Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?
7. No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims

How Could Your Employer Have Breached The UK GDPR?

The UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 set out how the personal data of UK residents is to be protected and handled by data controllers and data processors.  A data controller determines why personal data is to be processed as well as how to process it. The controller may instruct a data processor to process personal data on their behalf. Your employer may play both roles. 

Should your employer fail to protect your personal data and a breach of the UK GDPR at work occurs, you could be eligible for compensation.   

However, you must satisfy the data breach compensation eligibility criteria as set out in Article 82 of the UK GDPR. This means that you must have evidence that proves:

• The breach happened as a result of the data controller or processor failing to comply with the data protection legislation.
• Your personal data must have been compromised in the breach.
• Due to this compromise in your personal data, you suffered emotional and/or financial harm.

In addition to meeting the above criteria, you must start your case within the data breach claims time limit. This is typically 6 years. However, if your claim is against a public body, this is reduced to 1 year. 

Speak to one of the advisors from our team to discuss what potential steps you could take if the UK GDPR is breached and you suffer harm as a result.

What Data Could Employers Handle?

Our employers hold personal information that is protected by the UK GDPR. Personal data or personal information is information that can be used to identify you, whether indirectly or directly.

Personal data includes your name, address, date of birth, sex and National Insurance number. It also covers information relating to your work history, such as your disciplinary records, your pay, any training you’ve been given and any accidents you might have had while at work.

Personal data that’s considered sensitive, however, it requires more protection. Sensitive data includes your race, ethnicity, religion, political opinions, trade union membership, medical conditions and sexual history or orientation.

When Can You Claim After Your Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?

There are several different scenarios where you could potentially seek compensation after your employer has breached the UK GDPR. We cannot possibly cover every scenario here but we have done our best to give you an idea of how personal data breaches in the workplace can happen.

Examples of employers violating UK GDPR rules can include:

• Your employer sends a group email to staff and clients but fails to use blind carbon copy, resulting in the email addresses of several employees being sent out to clients including your own.
• Inadequate physical security resulted in copies of your employee documents being lost and later accessed by unauthorised persons.
• A lack of sufficient antivirus software enabled cyber criminals to break into company systems and steal employee records.
• The company’s HR department had failed to set a password on one of the company laptops. An unauthorised employee was therefore able to access your HR records, including details of a racial discrimination complaint you had raised the previous week. This caused significant distress and anxiety.

You can check if you are eligible to claim for a GDPR breach at work by speaking to our advisors. Our team is available to take your call 24 hours a day. Get in touch with us today using the details given below.

How Should Employers Protect Employees’ Data?

Employers should take steps to protect personal data themselves and may also empower you to protect your own data. Simple security protocols are an important tool for employers to prevent UK GDPR breaches. Remember, the UK GDPR applies whether you are working in an office or remotely.

If your personal data is stored on a computer, it may need to be protected by a username and password and only accessible to people if absolutely necessary. Regular password changes can help increase security.

If your personal data is written down, then document management processes like keeping desks clear from papers, locking storage cabinets and properly destroying out-of-date records are vital.

Furthermore, employees should feel comfortable discussing what employers do with their personal data. Your workplace may have a policy that you can read and understand, and should also provide training if needed so employees know their rights and how to access, retrieve or delete their personal data.

What Happens If Your Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?

If you are concerned that your employer has breached the UK GDPR, the Information Commissioner’s Office – known as the ICO – can investigate and fine your employer up to £17.5 million or 4% of its worldwide turnover, whichever is higher. It could also decide to issue a warning or compliance order, or ban your employer from processing personal data for a certain amount of time.

Employers are legally required to alert the ICO to a data breach within 72 hours of discovering it. They should also take certain steps of their own at the same time as or before alerting the ICO, particularly when it comes to trying to stop the breach and identifying any risks arising from it. The lengths that your employer is required to go to in the event of a data breach depends on the risk of harm that the breach creates.

For example, if they sent an email containing your personal information to someone outside the business or another employee, they could recall the email before it is opened. If an employee database is the subject of a phishing attack, they might have to take more action to get your information back or stop the hackers from using it.

How Much Could You Claim If An Employer Has Breached The UK GDPR?

There amount of data breach compensation you may receive after a data breach claim depends on different factors such as how serious the breach is and what you suffered.

The law allows you to claim for both material and non-material damage caused by your employer’s GDPR breach. Material damage means damages relating to your finances. For instance, if money was stolen from your bank account or your credit rating goes down, you could recover the loss. Non-material damage means harm relating to your mental health. This could be the ongoing anxiety you may suffer as a result of knowing that your personal information was leaked.

We’ve used figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to create the below compensation table, except for the first figure. The JCG is a publication solicitors may use when valuing injuries. It contains potential compensation award brackets for various injuries, including psychological harm.

Because of a case from 2015 known as Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc, you can now make data breach claims for this kind of mental harm regardless of whether you also suffered material damage.

Give our compensation calculator a try to see what you may be entitled to, or contact one of our expert data breach lawyers for more information.

No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims

If you are eligible to seek compensation for an accidental data breach at work that compromised your personal data, you may like to have the support of a solicitor. If so, one of our data breach solicitors could work on your claim. Typically, they work under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. 

When your solicitor works under the terms of a CFA, they generally don’t request you pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. They also won’t charge you for work on your case if your claim doesn’t succeed.

However, if your claim does succeed, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your compensation. This amount is a legally limited percentage. 

If you have questions about what to do if the UK GDPR is breached and you suffer harm as a result, contact an advisor from our team. They can evaluate your case for free, and if you meet the eligibility criteria to make a claim for a breach of the UK GDPR at work, you could be connected to one of our solicitors. 

To talk to an advisor:

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Have an advisor call you back by filling in our ‘contact us’ form. 
• Connect via our live chat.

Read More Articles On Data Breach Claims

You can find more articles on data breach claims below:

Claiming compensation for disciplinary record breaches – Advice about what to do if your employer exposed your disciplinary information in a data breach

Data breach claim FAQs – Answers to our most frequently asked questions when it comes to claiming for data breaches

My Personal Data Has Been Lost After a Breach – Find out what you could do if your personal data has been lost after a breach

ICO – Find out more about your rights under the UK GDPR from the Information Commissioner’s Office

Personal data an employer can keep about you – a government guide

Data Protection – the Government’s explanation of personal data protection

If you have any questions about claiming following a data breach caused because your employer has breached UK GDPR, why not get in touch?

This guide will explain how to make a stolen phone data breach claim. Organisations often supply their employees with electronic devices. For example, a company may give a busy salesperson a smartphone to help them stay in touch with clients.

However, data protection legislation requires organisations to protect personal data, including data that an employee stores on their company phone. So if a stolen device data breach takes place, the organisation may be liable for any harm caused. If a stolen smartphone data breach has caused you emotional distress or financial losses, you may be eligible to claim compensation. This would be on the grounds of proving the organisation was responsible for the data breach.

Please get in touch with Legal Expert today to enquire about claiming data breach compensation. An advisor can answer any questions you may have about claiming. Moreover, If you are eligible for compensation, we can assign a skilled lawyer to work on your claim. Please use the details below to contact us:

• Call our claims helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online.
• Use the live chat feature.

Select A Section

1. What Is A Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim?
2. Causes Of Stolen Phone Data Breaches
3. How To Make A Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim
4. What Evidence Can I Use In A Stolen Data Breach Claim?
5. Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim Calculator
6. Begin Your Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim

What Is A Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim?

A personal data breach is a security incident that compromises personal data protection, including incidents where personal data is lost or stolen. The causes of data breaches can vary. Human error can cause a data breach. Or, a bad actor such as a thief can intentionally breach or expose personal data.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018 organisations must protect the personal and personally sensitive data they process. This means keeping devices that have stored personal data on safe and secure. Also ensuring they are fully password protected and have the latest cyber security defence systems on them. Furthermore, organisations must train their employees to handle personal data securely.

If a phone is left in an insecure location, lost or stolen and contains personal information of a data subject then it can be of an understanding that this data may be breached. If the smartphone does not have a PIN, then anybody who locates the device will be able to access the personal data.

The data may belong to clients, employees or other key stakeholders. To make a data breach claim you must be able to prove how those responsible for your information failed in abiding by data protection laws. Not all data breach victims will be able to make a personal data breach claim.

The victim of a data breach may experience emotional distress. Or psychological injuries such as stress because of a data breach.

You may be eligible to make a data breach claim under the following circumstances:

• Firstly an organisation failed in its adherence to data protection laws, leading to a stolen mobile phone data breach incident.
• Secondly, you experienced emotional distress because of the data breach.
• Or you experienced financial losses because of the data breach. For example, fraudsters may have used your stolen data to target you for identity theft.

Causes Of Stolen Phone Data Breaches

Stolen phone data breaches can be very serious because they can enable unauthorised access to data stored on the device. If the data is sensitive, the breach could be particularly harmful.

As we have mentioned, legislation such as the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 requires organisations to protect the personal data they collect from the public. So, if an organisation fails in its duty to secure your personal data the organisation may be liable for the resulting harm.

A stolen phone data breach can happen because of human error. For example, an employee may leave their work smartphone unattended in a public place and because of poor workplace data security, there was no password protection on the phone, meaning anyone who had access to the phone could view all the personal data it had stored on it.

Data Breach Theft Statistics

It is hard to estimate how much data is stolen each year. However, data security incident trends published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can give us a good indication:

• In Q3 2021/22, organisations reported 131 data incidents to the ICO involving the loss or theft of paperwork in an insecure location.
• During the same period, organisations reported 44 data incidents to the ICO involving the loss or theft of an electronic device containing personal data.

How To Make A Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim

If an organisation has experienced a personal data breach that puts your rights and freedoms at risk, they should notify you as soon as possible. The organisation should report the data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The ICO may investigate the data breach and fine the organisation responsible.

If you believe you have discovered a breach of your data, please contact the organisation responsible and raise your concerns. The organisation should be able to investigate the matter internally. However, if you are not satisfied with how the organisation handles your complaint, you can report the breach to the ICO. However, please do so within three months of your last correspondence with the organisation. It is unlikely that the Information Commissioner’s Office will investigate an older complaint.

If a lost or stolen device data breach has affected you, you don’t have to wait to claim compensation. We can help you by providing you with a No Win No Fee lawyer to handle your stolen phone data breach claim. Please contact us today, to speak to an advisor.

What Evidence Can I Use In A Stolen Data Breach Claim?

The evidence that you can use in a stolen phone data breach claim has been summarised below. Supporting evidence will be used to show that the data controller was responsible for the breach of your personal data, as well as the impacts that the breach had on you.

Examples of evidence that can be used are:

• The data breach notification letter from the data controller informing you that your personal data was affected.
• Any other correspondence from the data controller.
• Evidence of financial losses such as bank statements, payslips, receipts and other bills.
• Medical records showing a diagnosis of a psychiatric condition.
• Any findings from the ICO investigation, if one is opened.

While not a requirement in order to claim compensation, as we said above, data subjects can complain to the ICO if they have concerns about how their personal data is being handled, or if they are unsatisfied about how a data controller is responding to them or dealing with an incident. The ICO can then open an investigation if it has not done so already.

While the ICO does not have the power to award compensation, any findings from their investigation will be useful evidence in any claim. For more information on collecting evidence for a lost phone data breach claim, or to get a free eligibility assessment, talk to our advisors today.

Stolen Phone Data Breach Claims Calculator

If you wish to make a data breach claim, two types of damages can be awarded in a successful case.

The first head of claim is material damages which compensates you for the money or assets you lost because of the data breach. For example, you may have suffered a loss of earnings if you were psychologically injured after the data breach, and were unable to work for a period of time. In addition, you can claim non-material damages, to compensate you for the emotional distress or mental health injuries the stolen electronic device data breach caused.

The table can help to estimate how much non-material damages data breach compensation you can claim. The compensation amounts given here are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines. It is important we emphasise that these amounts are intended to serve as guidance only.

Compensation Table

Please note that the top entry is not a JCG Figure

To find out what a claim in your particular circumstances could be worth, talk to our advisors today.

How To Make A Stolen Phone Data Breach Claim

Please contact us today, if you would like to make a stolen phone data breach claim. An advisor will be happy to speak to you in-depth about your particular circumstances. And if you are eligible to claim, we can provide you with a No Win No Fee solicitor.

Why Choose A No Win No Fee Solicitor?

• You won’t pay an upfront solicitor’s fee. Instead, you will pay a success fee if your claim is successful.
• The success fee is legally capped. It is a percentage of your settlement and is taken when the solicitor receives your award.

This No Win No Fee data breach solicitors guide, explains more of the benefits of using No Win No fee solicitors when claiming compensation.

Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim

One of our solicitors could help you make a stolen phone data breach claim on a No Win No Fee basis by offering you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this type of No Win No Fee contract, your solicitor won’t need a fee to start working on your claim, nor to continue providing their services. Plus, if your claim does not succeed, then your solicitor won’t take a fee for their work. 

If your phone data breach claim does succeed, then your solicitor will deduct a success fee directly from your compensation. This fee is taken as a small percentage which is legislatively capped, ensuring that you receive the larger share of your award. 

There are many benefits that come with claiming with a solicitor. For example, they could help you gather relevant and compelling evidence to support your personal data breach compensation claim. They can also help ensure that all areas of your claim are fully filed. 

To find out if one of our solicitors could help you with your claim, contact our team of advisors today. They can offer a free consultation, in which they will examine your claim and potentially connect you with a solicitor. To get started:

• Call our claims helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online.
• Use the live chat feature.

Data Breach Claim Resources

To learn more about data breaches and data theft, please read these online guides.

• Stolen Computer Data Breach Claim
• Employer Personal Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide
• My Employer Shared My Medical Records Without Consent – Can I Claim?
• Data protection rights, for data subjects

If you have any further questions about a stolen phone data breach claim please contact us today.

Guide By Chelache

Edited By Melissa.