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Child Custody Data Breach – How To Claim

A child custody data breach can be an upsetting experience for any family. Child custody battles often happen when a couple divorces or separates, which can be a sensitive and upsetting time. What’s more, the data breach can compromise a child’s safeguarding. So child custody data breaches can cause emotional distress or psychological trauma.

Child custody data breach claims guide

Child custody data breach claims guide

Under data protection legislation such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 DPA, organisations are responsible for protecting the personal data they process. A data controller, usually a company or organisation that processes personal data, must take proactive measures to prevent data misuse. A custody data breach claim may be possible in circumstances when a data controller fails to comply with data security laws and this causes a personal data breach.

Please call our claims helpline to speak to an advisor in confidence to see if you are eligible to claim. If you are eligible to claim compensation, we can appoint a data breach solicitor to start working on your case immediately.

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What Is A Child Custody Data Breach?

Personal data is protected by data security laws and is information which identifies an individual. A personal data breach is a security incident compromising the integrity, confidentially and security of such information.

A data breach could happen when your data has been:

  • Lost or stolen
  • Altered or encrypted
  • Deleted or duplicated
  • Unlawfully destroyed
  • Exposed or leaked to an insecure environment
  • Seen by unauthorised persons
  • An organisation discloses processed personal data, verbally or in writing, without a lawful basis to do so.

There are instances when an organisation can share personal information without the data subject’s permission. Under data protection laws, organisations can share and process personal information if they have a lawful basis to do so. For example, social services may share personal information with the police to protect a child.

What Child Data Could Be Leaked?

If a family is affected by a child custody data breach it may mean that lots of personal and personally sensitive information could be involved, depending on what data has been breached. Here are some examples of data that the breach could compromise:

  • First name and surname
  • Address
  • Data of birth
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Financial information
  • Online logins and passwords

However, a child custody battle often involves highly sensitive information about the lives of those involved. For example, the data breach may leak information that the UK GDPR considers special category data that requires even more protection. Therefore the data breach could have a detrimental effect on the victims’ personal life.

Examples Of Local Authority Data Breaches Involving Children’s Records

Leicester City Council accidentally emailed 27 companies a spreadsheet that contained information on vulnerable people including children in their care. Attached was a document containing information about vulnerable people, including children under the courts’ protection.

Leicester City Council asked the firms to delete the email and reported the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the public body in the UK that enforces our data protection laws. And the ICO has the power to investigate and fine organisations that breach data protection laws.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-42667451

Reporting A Child Custody Data Breach

When a personal data breach occurs that affects the rights and freedoms of data subjects then the data controller must take several steps:

  1. Report the data breach to the ICO within 72 hours
  2. Inform the data subject that their personal data has been involved in a data breach.

There are also steps you, the data subject, can take:

Firstly, you can make a formal child custody data breach complaint to the organisation involved. The data controller should investigate the breach formally. If you do not receive a satisfactory response, you can report the data breach to the ICO. You should make the report within three months of your last meaningful contact with the data controller.

Secondly, you can contact Legal Expert to see if you can claim child custody data breach compensation. To make a successful claim, you will need to provide evidence to prove the following:

  • An organisation failed in its legal obligation to correctly secure your personal data.
  • This caused your personal data to be breached
  • Consequently, you experienced emotional distress or mental health injuries because of the data breach.
  • Or the data breach led to financial losses.

What Could I Claim For A Child Custody Data Breach?

A child custody battle data breach can expose personal and sensitive information. Moreover, it may involve sensitive information about children. Which, if exposed, could compromise the safety of the child. After a breach, you may experience emotional distress. Moreover, you may experience mental health injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or acute stress due to a data breach.

Moreover, you may have experienced financial losses. For example, you may have had to pay for medication to treat a mental health injury. Or, if the breach made you feel less safe in your home, you may have had to pay for a home security system.

If your child custody battle data breach compensation claim is successful, you could potentially receive these damages:

  • Material damages are compensation for past and future financial losses.
  • Non-material damages are compensation for psychiatric injuries or emotional distress.

You can use our data breach compensation table for non-material damages. Material damages compensation you could claim is not included in the table.

Edit
Type Of Injury And Severity Notes Damages
Psychiatric damage – (A) severe There will be permanent symptoms suffered, which will impact all areas of the person’s life and the prognosis will be poor. £54,830 to £115,730
Psychiatric damage – (B) moderately severe As with the severe category the claimant will suffer permanent effects. However in this category the prognosis will be much more positive. £19,070 to £54,830
Psychiatric damage – (C) moderate There should have been a marked improvement in this person’s condition by the time a claim goes to trial. They have a good outlook for recovery. £5,860 to £19,070
Psychiatric damage – (D) less severe How much compensation is awarded will take account of how long any disability lasted for and how severely daily life was impacted. £1,540 to £5,860
PTSD – (A) Severe All parts of this persons’ life have been affected badly. Cases will involve permanent effects preventing the person either from working or working at the same level as before the traumatic event. £59,860 to £100,670
PTSD – (B) Moderately severe The claimant could experience significant disabilities which last for the foreseeable future. The category is distinct from above due to there being a better prognosis. £23,150 to £59,860
PTSD – (C) Moderate This claimant will largely have made a recovery. They should not experience any continuing effects which are grossly disabling. £8,180 to £23,150
PTSD – (D) Less Severe The claimant should have recovered in a one to two year period. £3,950 to £8,180

We used the 16th edition Judicial College Guidelines to create the table. The guidelines were updated for 2022. Please feel free to contact us for a personalised compensation quote.

How To Claim For A Child Custody Data Breach

Legal Expert can provide you with a No Win No Fee data breach lawyer.

A No Win No Fee solicitor means you won’t pay a solicitor’s fee before or during the claims process. Alternatively, you will pay a success fee if you win your compensation claim. And you won’t have to pay a success fee if you don’t win. You will pay your success fee out of your compensation payout at a legally capped rate.

Please use the details below to contact us about making a data breach claim:

Related Data Breach Claims

You may find these data breach guides helpful if you wish to claim data breach compensation.

Thank you for reading our guide to claiming compensation for a child custody data breach.

Guide By Chelache

Edited By Melissa

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    • Patrick Mallon

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.

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