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Data Breach At Calderdale Council – Compensation Claims Guide

If you have proof that a data breach at Calderdale Council has caused you financial or psychological hardship, you may be entitled to compensation.

Calderdale Council data breach claims guide

Calderdale Council data breach claims guide

This article will detail examples of how there can be errors in data protection, resulting in your information potentially being misused or mishandled. We will answer questions like:

  • What is a Calderdale Council data protection breach?
  • What is GDPR, and why is it so important?
  • How could our solicitors help you receive compensation for a data breach at the council?
  • What personal details and sensitive information can be part of a data breach?
  • What are the relevant timescales for breaches?

Data Protection Breach Compensation Claims

Our advisors can help with any relevant questions or queries you may have. They are available 24/7 and offer free legal advice so you can get a greater understanding of your own situation. If you’re eligible to claim, they can put you through to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. They have years of experience and could help you receive thousands of pounds in compensation.

You can contact us at a time that works for you using the details below.

Alternatively, please read on to discover what instances could cause you to claim for a Calderdale Council data breach.

Select A Section

  1. A Guide On Making A Claim For A Data Breach At Calderdale Council
  2. Rates Of Data Protection Breaches
  3. What Is A Data Breach At Calderdale Council?
  4. The Data Protection Act And Local Government
  5. Types Of Data Breaches Under GDPR
  6. Council Housing Tenant And Social Work Data Breach
  7. When Should You Report To The ICO About A Data Breach?
  8. How To Claim For A Council Data Breach
  9. Assessing Council Data Breach Damages
  10. Data Breach At Calderdale Council GDPR Breach Compensation Amounts UK
  11. Data Breach At Calderdale Council Compensation No Win No Fee Claims
  12. Should I Claim With Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?
  13. Please Get In Touch With Us
  14. Related Content
  15. What Are Some Frequently Asked Questions? 

A Guide On Making A Claim For A Data Breach At Calderdale Council

It can be a very stressful and difficult time when a data breach occurs. Your personal information could be obtained and used because of human error, potentially causing a Halifax council data breach.

This guide will highlight how you could potentially claim data breach compensation for psychological and financial harm. Sufficient evidence is important in being able to do this successfully. Below, we’ll discuss evidence in greater detail.

If you’re eligible to claim, our advisors can provide you with expert advice on your rights. With their knowledge and vast experience, they can give you a reliable estimate of the compensation you could receive due to, for example, a rent statement data breach. Our No Win No Fee solicitors could then help you accrue the required evidence to give you the best possible chance of receiving compensation.

There are time limits regarding being able to make a Halifax council data protection breach claim. And timeframes can vary, so you may wish to contact us sooner rather than later to prevent you from losing compensation. So, you need to have begun the claims process either within:

  • Six years against a private company;
  • Or one year against a public company e.g. a local council.

As previously mentioned, our advisors are available 24/7 and can offer you a free consultation over the phone. If you’re unsure if you can claim or would just like more information about the claims process, they can help you at any time. Simply call them using the phone number above.

Rates Of Data Protection Breaches 

data breach at Calderdale Council

In Great Britain, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport help provide statistics concerning how companies use data. Above is the latest statistics and information about the percentage of businesses with staff using personally owned devices to carry out regular work-related activities. As you can see, 61% of charities overall have staff using personal devices while, with small firms, it’s 49%. Overall, this occurs within 53% of businesses.

The reason this is important is because of the potential risk of things like cyber attacks. A person using their own personal device for work-related purposes may not have the required firewall or cyber security that is needed when handling personal details. They may be more at risk of suffering data security breaches that can affect your quality of life.

A data breach may have been caused by a different organisation other than the council. If you have evidence of having suffered such a breach from HSBC or Ticketmaster, for example, please get in touch using the phone number at the top of this page as you may be able to make a successful claim.

What Is A Data Breach At Calderdale Council?

If you think you’re the victim of a data breach at Calderdale Council, it’s important to know both what constitutes a breach and in what circumstances you may be able to make a successful claim.

Calderdale Council data protection should result in the council taking the necessary precautions to manage and protect your data. However, it’s important to note that if they do suffer from a data breach over rent statements, for example, you would only be entitled to compensation if you have suffered some form of financial loss or damage to your mental health.

A data protection breach is when your personal data has been:

  • Destroyed
  • Lost
  • Accessed
  • Or disclosed in an unauthorised manner.

As such, it doesn’t matter if the breach was a deliberate act by someone or if it was caused by simple human error. For a claim to be successful, you need to prove that the organisation that held your data did something wrong that resulted in the data breach. For instance, the organisation could have been affected by cyber-attacks due to their cybersecurity not being up-to-date. If the company is in the public sector, they may not have the systems required to safely hold the data, meaning they could be more susceptible to such an attack.

Other examples of a data breach at Calderdale Council would include:

  • Your name and address being sent to the wrong email address. This would be an example of a council email data breach.
  • Tenancy documents being sent to the incorrect address when an updated one had previously been provided.
  • Social services data breaches are caused by insufficient staff training. This could be, for instance, a local government sending copies of financial statements to the incorrect person. Or in more extreme cases, the wrong letter could be sent to a person disclosing sensitive information, such as the location of their child that’s been taken into care.

For more information about taking your case to court and claiming compensation, visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website or get in touch with us today.

The Data Protection Act And Local Government 

The EU introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to impose regulations on any organisation that handles personal data relating to EU citizens. This is to make sure that companies take reasonable steps to secure the safety of people’s data so that it can’t be used for illicit or illegal means. This is partly because, if a data breach occurs, the person whose data it is wouldn’t have given sufficient consent for it to be shared or used this way.

The implementation of GDPR into UK law came in the form of The Data Protection Act 2018. This came into effect on 23rd May 2018. This law states that companies need to use people’s data:

  • Transparently, fairly and lawfully
  • For specified and explicit purposes
  • For only what is necessary for the purpose
  • Only for the required period of time.

Due to the Act, there is also stronger legal protection for information relating to race, political opinions, genetics, religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds. A data protection authority will be used to make sure companies are adhering to the required law. They are independent public authorities designed to make sure people’s data is being used safely and securely. In the UK, the independent authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). 

If you’ve suffered from a Calderdale Council data protection breach and you’re unsure about your rights, call our advisors using the phone number above. They can let you know if you’re eligible to claim and, if you are, can put you through to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.

Types Of Data Breaches Under GDPR

You may be wondering, “What council is Halifax in?” The Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council represents this area. Due to this, a Halifax council data breach is the same thing as a data breach at Calderdale Council. Examples of a potential Calderdale Council data breach include:

  • Failing to remove or redact personal information when sending an information pack to local landowners.
  • An ex-employee illegally accessing the local council’s database to obtain personal information. This could be in the form of tenancy documents.
  • A cyberattack caused by insufficient cybersecurity resulting in the information supplied by the public sector being compromised.
  • A council email data breach resulting in information on community safety being stolen.
  • The safety of public housing tenants being compromised due to incorrect files being sent by email to another third party. This could involve scans of tenancy audit documents.
  • Social services data breaches, such as adoption documents being disclosed without the necessary authorisation.
  • A rent statement data breach occurring causing tenants in a block of flats to complain about the differing amounts of rent paid.

You could also suffer similar data breaches from an estate agent or other companies that may hold your financial records, such as Virgin Mobile and Microsoft.

Council Housing Tenant And Social Work Data Breach

If you live in council housing, you may communicate with your local council to a greater degree. Due to the council organising and approving your housing, they will have sensitive documentation that could be misused or mishandled as part of a data breach. Documents that could be incorrectly sent or stolen as part of a Halifax council data protection breach include:

  • Tenancy documents
  • Scans of tenancy audit documents
  • Rent statements
  • Passport or driving license data

Information proving your identity could be placed in the wrong hands due to a data breach at a council. This is particularly the case with social services, as it can involve children’s information. It could also include information about the elderly or other vulnerable adults using care facilities.

When Should You Report To The ICO About A Data Breach?

The previous few sections have been clarifying what constitutes a data breach at Calderdale Council. Now, we will examine the necessary actions required when you’re first made aware of the data breach.  

The UK’s independent body designed to uphold information rights and privacy is The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). However, contacting them is not the first step when wanting to complain.

The process of raising a complaint through the ICO includes:

  1. Firstly, contact the organisation responsible for the data breach. This could leave you wondering, “How do I contact Calderdale council?” The best step to take is to look for details of their data protection officer. 
  2. Secondly, contact the ICO detailing your complaint in full if you don’t receive a meaningful response within three months.

It’s important to note that the ICO usually won’t investigate complaints with an undue delay in corresponding with them. As such, if you do want to launch a complaint, please make sure you contact them within three months of the last piece of meaningful correspondence from the third party. You could also seek legal advice in this situation as opposed to making a complaint through the ICO.

Whether you’re dealing with a data breach regarding a local council or want to see if you can claim for a university data breach, you can give our advisors a call with any questions or queries you may have. You can contact them using the phone number at the top of this page.

How To Claim For A Council Data Breach

Whether information on community safety has been shared with the wrong person or there’s been a data breach over rent statements, contacting the organisation responsible for the breach is usually the first recommended step. 

As, in this instance, the breach is concerning Calderdale Council data protection, you could raise your complaint with them through several means. You could:

  • Call them
  • Email them
  • Send a letter

This answers the question of “How do I contact Calderdale council?” 

However, regardless of whatever method you choose, make sure you keep a detailed record of every time you’ve contacted them and vice versa. This information could increase your chances of making a successful claim regarding a data breach at Calderdale Council.

Assessing Council Data Breach Damages

There are two potential heads of claim when making a data breach claim. They are:

  • Material Damages – Both the current and potential financial losses caused by the incident. The potentially negative effect on your credit rating is also considered if your financial records have been stolen.
  • Non-Material Damages – This relates to the psychological damage caused by the incident. You no longer need to have suffered financial damage to claim for this.

Due to the serious nature of data breach complications like, for example, identity theft, you could potentially claim for both material and non-material damages. You can suffer long-lasting consequences regardless of when breaches are reported due to the anxiety and anguish this can cause.

How serious the data breach is and to what extent it has impacted you affects the compensation you could receive. You, therefore, need to have suffered some form of financial or mental damage due to the data breach at Calderdale Council to make a claim.

Data Breach At Calderdale Council GDPR Breach Compensation Amounts UK

As mentioned above, you can claim for psychological issues caused by the data breach even if you haven’t suffered financially. This is due to a ruling in Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015]. The Court of Appeal stated that it’s possible to claim for psychological damage even in the absence of financial damage. Before Vidal, it was necessary to have suffered financial damage in order to get compensation for mental harm.

In another case, Gulati and others v MGN Ltd [2015], the court considered how psychological harm should be valued in data breach law. It was recommended that consideration be given to personal injury compensation payouts. 

The Judicial College assesses previous general damages payouts in relation to personal injury claims. This includes analysing the damage to your mental health caused by the incident. In assessing the nature and extent of the injury, they have created reliable compensation brackets to give you an idea of the amount of compensation you could receive.

You can see a table below listing psychological issues and their respective compensation brackets. 

Edit
Type of Injury Amount of Compensation Description
Mental Anguish £4,380 Mental health issues in this bracket relate to the direct result of the incident causing fear of impending death or a genuine reduction to your life expectancy.
General Psychiatric Damage £17,900 to £51,460 Significant issues will be created due to psychiatric damage. This usually involves cases of work-related stress causing a frequently reoccurring or permanent disability meaning that they can’t return to comparable work.
General Psychiatric Damage £5,500 to £17,900 Prognosis will be much better than above bracket due to symptoms not being as prolonged resulting in a marked and obvious improvement.
General Psychiatric Damage Up to £5,500 Compensation in this bracket relates to how often the damage causes issues with sleep and daily activities.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder £56,180 to £94,470 Cases like this result in permanent effects that prevent the injured person from being able to function in a work environment or anywhere near to their pre-trauma level. All aspects of life are significantly affected.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder £21,730 to £56,180 Injuries in this bracket have a more positive prognosis than the above bracket. This will be the result of professional care and help. However, substantial disability is still caused for the foreseeable future.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder £7,680 to £21,730 Recovery has largely occurred and any prolonged effects won’t be particularly disabling.

We completely understand if you’d prefer to receive a reliable compensation estimate regarding your own losses. So we can do this for you, please get in touch. You can call us regarding a Calderdale Council data breach using the phone number at the top of this page.

Data Breach At Calderdale Council Compensation No Win No Fee Claims

Our No Win No Fee solicitors are experienced in securing compensation. As such, their work could result in you receiving thousands of pounds. No Win No Fee means that:

  • Your solicitor won’t request legal fees from you, either upfront or during the claims process.
  • Instead, they will take a small, legally capped portion of your compensation as payment if your claim is successful.
  • They also won’t request legal fees for an unsuccessful claim.

Should I Claim With Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?

You should always make sure you find the legal representation that’s right for you regarding making a claim. Therefore, you don’t need to look locally for a lawyer. In fact, local lawyers may lack the required expertise when it comes to data breach law.

Checking online reviews can help narrow down the search. Why not check out some of our reviews?

If you want to call us, we can put you through to an experienced lawyer who specialises in data breach claims.

Please Get In Touch With Us

Our specialist solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis and could result in you receiving thousands of pounds in compensation. Our advisors are helpful, available 24/7 and can confirm if you’re eligible in just a few minutes. They can answer any questions and help explain the claims process to give you a better understanding of your own situation.

Related Content

For more useful information, please use the links below.

View the ICO’s website for more information about personal data breaches.

To make a data protection complaint, visit the Government website.

Want to know more about cyber security? If so, visit the Local Government Association website.

For more information about how to claim for a slip or trip against your local council, view our website.

To discover more about claiming data breach compensation due to an NHS data breach, click here.

Suffered from a Capcom data breach? If so, click here to see how you could claim.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

What Are Some Frequently Asked Questions?

For answers to frequently asked questions about a Calderdale Council data protection breach, view below.

How could I be affected by a data breach?

Your identity could be stolen due to the sensitive information that has been stolen. You could also have money stolen or have your house robbed if your address has been made available to the wrong individual.

How do I report receiving suspicious messages?

There is government guidance regarding how you can report these messages. You can email, text or contact the relevant team. More information is on their website.

What happens if I have lost money?

You will be compensated for the money that you’ve lost as a result of the data breach at Calderdale Council if your claim is successful.

What further action could I take?

You could look to complain through the ICO or write to your MP concerning the data breach.

If you have any questions about what to do if you fall victim to a data breach at Calderdale Council, please get in touch.

Guide by Durdy

Edited by Billing

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      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.