Can I Claim Compensation For A Breach Of My Data Protection Rights?
You may want to know, ‘What can I do if I experience a breach of my data protection rights?’. This article provides information about seeking compensation for a breach of your processed personal data.
In recent years, two key data protection laws that seek to protect your processed personal data have been introduced. Personal data is any information that can be used either directly or indirectly to identify you as the data subject. Processing is anything that is done to or with this data, such as storing or collecting it.
These laws also set the eligibility criteria to claim compensation if a breach in your processed data has resulted in financial losses or damage to your mental health. We explain these requirements in the first section of this article.
This article includes a look at examples of what evidence could support data breach claims. We will also look at how compensation is awarded in data breach cases.
Should you be eligible to claim compensation, you may like to have the support of a solicitor specialising in data breach cases. We look at how you can instruct a No Win No Fee solicitor to help with your claim.
A Guide To Compensation For A Breach Of Data Protection Rights
If you would like to speak to a member of our team or check your compensation eligibility and start a claim, please get in touch on the following details.
- By phone: 0800 073 8804
- Request a call back with our ‘claim online’ form.
- The live chat at the bottom of the screen.
Select A Section
- Can I Claim Compensation For A Breach Of My Data Protection Rights?
- What Are Personal Data Breaches?
- What Evidence Do I Need To Make A Data Breach Claim?
- How Much Compensation For My Data Being Breached?
- Find Out How Legal Expert Could Help With Data Breach Claims
- Where Can I Read More About Dealing With A Breach Of My Data Protection Rights?
Can I Claim Compensation For A Breach Of My Data Protection Rights?
Here we look at a few of the data rights you have reserved by data protection law:
- The right to be informed if your data is being processed.
- Have access to your personal data that is being processed
- To have inaccurate data corrected.
- In certain circumstances, the right to be forgotten.
- The right to object to processing in certain circumstances
- Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling
- Withdraw consent at any time (where relevant)
- The right to complain to the Information Commissioner
This is not an exhaustive list, however, if a data controller (generally an organisation with responsibility for deciding the purposes and means of processing personal data), or processor (controller may instruct a processor to process data on their behalf), breaches these rights, it does not automatically mean you could make a personal data breach claim. You could still claim if your rights are not adhered to, but you would need to show how you suffered because of this failure on the part of the data controller.
Below we look at instances that might result in a personal data breach compensation claim.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) sit together to protect the personal data of UK residents.
Article 82 of the UK GDPR sets the eligibility criteria that need to be met for a data subject to be eligible to make a personal data breach claim.
- The data controller or processor failed to adhere to the data protection legislation.
- This caused a data breach that involved your personal data.
- As a result of this breach of your personal data, you suffered either a financial loss or harm to your mental health.
So, to find out, ‘Can I claim for a breach of my data protection rights?’, call an advisor now for free advice.
Time Limits To Claim For Breaches Of Data Protection
You must file your claim for data breach compensation within the 6 year time limit. However, if you are claiming against a public body for a data security incident, this may reduce to 1 year.
What Are Personal Data Breaches?
Personal data is anything that can be used to identify a data subject. A personal data breach is technically a security incident that has the potential to cause your personal data’s confidentiality, integrity and availability to be affected. The two main ways your personal data can be breached are through human error or deliberate action. We look at a few examples below:
- Failure to use the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature when sending a mass email. An email address is considered to be personal data.
- Sending personal data to the wrong postage address.
- Lost or stolen paperwork or storage devices, such as a memory stick.
- Hacking due to out-of-date cyber security software.
If you would like to discuss the incident that resulted in a breach of your processed personal data, contact one of our team members.
What Evidence Do I Need To Make A Data Breach Claim?
As with all compensation claims, having sufficient evidence showing liability and the harm you suffered is vital. Evidence that might be useful when seeking compensation includes:
- Notification letter. A data controller must inform you if your personal data has been involved in a breach when it would infringe on your rights and freedoms
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent body that has been set up to uphold data rights and investigate certain data breaches. Controllers and processors must inform the ICO of a reportable data breach. They have 72 hours to do this from when it is first discovered. Any findings from an ICO investigation could be used as evidence.
- If you have suffered financially and want to claim these losses back, you will need evidence in the form of receipts, bank statements and invoices.
- For those who have suffered mentally medical records will be needed as well as a possible report from an independent medical assessment.
For more advice regarding, ‘What evidence can I submit to prove a breach of my data protection rights?’. Get in touch with one of our team members.
How Much Compensation For My Data Being Breached?
If you make a successful personal data breach claim, your settlement could include compensation for two types of damage. These are non-material damage, which refers to the psychological impact and material damage, which refers to the financial harm due to the compromise of your processed personal data.
For guidance when valuing non-material damage, legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This text lists guideline figures for various types of mental injuries.
The table looks at guideline figures given for psychological damage from the 16th edition of the JCG. The table is only for guidance.
| Psychological Harm | Category | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage | Severe | The claimant struggles to cope with life, education, work and relationships. At this severity, the prognosis is very poor. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Moderately Severe | At this severity there are significant problems coping with life in general. However, the outlook is more positive than in the above category. | £19,070 to £54,830 | |
| Moderate | At this severity, the party has experienced problems similar to those above, but there have been marked improvements. | £5,860 to £19,070 | |
| Less Severe | This severity considers the length of time the disability lasted and to what extent it impacted their life. | £1,540 to £5,860 | |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Severe | The claimant has permanent symptoms that have a bad affect on all areas of their life. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Moderately Severe | The claimant experiences a significant disability lasting into the future. However, professional help can result in some recovery. | £23,150 to £59,860 | |
| Moderate | In this category, there may be some continuing symptoms but they won’t cause a major impact on the claimant’s life. | £8,180 to £23,150 | |
| Less Severe | At this severity, the claimant has made almost a complete recovery within 2 years. However, some minor symptoms may persist. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Examples Of Material Damage
You may also claim compensation for your material damage. For example, you suffered a loss in your earnings because you needed time off of work to recover from your mental health condition caused by the data breach.
To have your questions answered regarding claiming for a breach of your data protection rights, contact a team member.
Find Out How Legal Expert Could Help With Data Breach Claims
If you are eligible to seek compensation for a data breach, you may wish to have the representation of a solicitor specialising in data breach claims. One of our data protection solicitors could work on your case. Usually, their services are provided under a kind of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
When your solicitor provides their services under a CFA, they don’t generally charge upfront for work on your case. However, if the outcome of your case is positive, they will take a success fee from your settlement. This amount is a percentage subject to a legal cap. You won’t be asked for this fee following an unsuccessful claim.
Discuss Your No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim
If you would like to further discuss, ‘What options do I have following a breach of my data protection rights?’, speak to one of our team members. Additionally, they can assess whether you have valid grounds to claim and if you do, you could be passed on to one of our solicitors.
To discuss your questions with a team member:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Begin your claim online.
- Connect using our webchat.
Where Can I Read More About Dealing With A Breach Of My Data Protection Rights?
Here are additional data breach articles from Legal Expert:
- Information about how to report a data breach incident.
- Find out if you are eligible to claim compensation for stress caused by a data breach.
- What to do if a company has misused your personal data.
A few external links that might be useful:
- Make a data protection complaint guide from the government.
- Information on objecting to the use of your personal data from the ICO.
- Taking your case to court and claiming compensation guide from the ICO.
If you have any further queries related to your question, ‘What could I do after a breach of my data protection rights?’, please contact a team member.
