Can Police Disclose Information Without Consent And Can I Claim?
By Danielle Jordan. Last Updated 6th October 2023. Have you had your personal information disclosed by the police and was it done without a lawful reason? For example, police may have disclosed your personal information without your consent, even though they needed it. This guide aims to help you.
This article has more information on the roles of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as well as how a No Win No Fee arrangement could be beneficial to you.
Get in touch with us today to start your data breach claim
- You can call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the live pop-up chat in the corner
- Contact us through our website
A guide on what you could do after police disclosed your personal information without your consent
Select A Section
- The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent, Could I Claim?
- Can Police Disclose Information?
- Examples Of How The Police Could Disclose Information Without Your Consent
- How To Access Your Personal Information Held By The Police
- Claiming If The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent
- The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent, What Could I Claim?
- Get Help With A No Win No Fee Police Data Breach Claim
The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent, Could I Claim?
To make a valid data breach claim you’d need to show that:
- Your personal data was involved in a data breach; and
- The data breach was caused by the organisation’s wrongful conduct (for example, a lack of data protection training for staff); and
- You suffered mental harm or financial loss (or both) as a result.
A data breach is a breach of security that causes accidental or unlawful loss, destruction, alteration, disclosure of or access to data that could identify you. Data that can identify people (whether on its own or alongside other information) is known as personal data or personal information.
Personal data includes:
- Names
- Personal email addresses
- Phone numbers
Personal data breaches could occur, for example, through a cyber-attack or human error. Both could lead to information being leaked or exposed to unauthorised people. This could then impact the financial and psychological health of those affected.
The UK GDPR outlines the requirements that organisations need to follow when processing information. These requirements are known as principles, as they consist of:
- Accountability
- Storage limitation
- Accuracy
- Purpose limitation
- Data minimisation
- Integrity and confidentiality (security)
- Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
However, disregarding these principles could lead to a data breach. Then they may face action from the ICO, which could include enforcement actions such as fines.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body that governs data protection laws. It offers advice and guidance on how to report a data breach as well as how to minimise the risk of a data breach.
What Personal Information Is Confidential?
All personal information can be seen as confidential and is protected by legislation such as the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
Furthermore, the Data Protection Act 2018 outlines how personal data should be handled and how it should be stored. In the terms of law enforcement authorities, such as police, the UK GDPR with the DPA provide a framework for allowing the processing of personal data where it is appropriate to do so. This means that it allows you to share personal data with law enforcement authorities for the purpose of complying with court orders, or other legal requirements and legislation.
If you can prove that you’ve been affected by having your personal information disclosed by police, please contact us through our website or live chat feature.
Can Police Disclose Information?
The personal data that police can collect includes:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Phone number
Any information that authorities collect can be disclosed to other law enforcement agencies if it is appropriate to do so. This means that police can share information that would aid in the solving of criminal cases.
However, they aren’t able to share your personal data for unlawful reasons. For example, if they share your data with someone who isn’t authorised to have it and there’s no lawful basis for doing so, this would be a data breach.
Examples Of How The Police Could Disclose Information Without Your Consent
If your personal data was disclosed without a lawful basis, you might be eligible to claim police data breach compensation. This disclosure could occur because of human error, or due to criminal activity, such as hackers gaining access to unprotected systems.
Here are a few examples of how the police could disclose information unlawfully:
- Failure to use the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature when sending an email to more than one recipient. This feature conceals email addresses from other recipients when sending an email to more than one person.
- Sending personal data to the wrong postage address. For example, if the address was not checked before posting documents containing personal data.
- Verbal disclosure. For example, by discussing the data subject on the phone without authorisation.
- Lost or stolen devices. For example, a laptop with no password could be left behind on public transport.
- Failing to update cybersecurity systems or to have adequate security policies could allow hackers to gain access to personal data.
Speak with one of our team members to discuss what steps you could take if the police shared your personal information without a lawful basis.
How To Access Your Personal Information Held By The Police
In order to access your personal information, you may need to make a subject access request.
If you make a subject access request, you can find out:
- What personal information an organisation holds about you
- How they are using the information
- Who they are sharing information with and
- Where they got the information or data from
This information that is obtained from this request allows you to gain a full understanding of how your personal information is being used as well as where the organisation received the data from.
Your rights as a data subject
You have the right to ask an organisation whether they are storing your information, as well as ask them for any copies of the information either verbally or in writing.
However, if the authority has a lawful reason not to disclose personal data, they may not disclose it to you.
Claiming If The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent
When a personal data breach occurs and it risks the freedoms and rights of employees, the organisation should let the ICO know within 72 hours. They should also let those who are affected know. However, the organisation might not take these steps because they’re unaware of the breach.
If you suspect that police have disclosed your personal information without your consent, you could contact them. They can then handle the matter directly with you.
However, if the response is unsatisfactory, you could file a complaint to the ICO. Wait no longer than 3 months since your last contact with the organisation to file this complaint. The ICO may then open an investigation. It’s important to remember that you cannot claim compensation through the ICO, but they may impose a fine on the responsible party.
If you choose to hire a No Win No Fee solicitor, they can help you take steps to strengthen your claim. This can include collecting evidence, such as:
- Any written information from the authority informing you of a breach.
- Bank statements that prove financial loss, or can illustrate fraudulent activity on your account because of the breach.
- Medical records or a medical report that illustrates any stress, anxiety or PTSD caused by the breach.
The Police Disclosed My Personal Information Without My Consent, What Could I Claim?
If you have been impacted because your personal information was disclosed by police without your consent or another lawful reason, you could be looking to make a claim for compensation.
Data breach compensation can be calculated by using two different types of damages: material and non-material.
Non-Material Damage
Non-material damage covers the psychological effects caused by the breach. Examples of the types of psychological damages could include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
In order to claim for non-material damage, you may need to be medically assessed. This assessment is to determine the severity of the psychological damages as well as the impact they have on your life. It is carried out by an independent medically-trained professional, who would make a report on their findings. This report can act as evidence in your claim.
After the Court of Appeal heard Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc (2015), it determined that you could claim non-material damages after a personal data breach without having suffered any financial losses too. For instance, this means that you don’t have to have suffered any financial losses in order to make a claim. you can claim for material damage or non-material damage, or both damages.
The Judicial College provides guideline compensation brackets for different physical and psychological injuries. Solicitors use the guidelines to help when valuing psychological injuries. For example, some of the types of mental harm you could suffer are listed below and taken from the Judicial College Guidelines.
| Types of Psychological Issues | How Much? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage Generally: Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 | With a very poor prognosis, there would be a large effect on day-to-day functioning. |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally: Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 | Significant problems that affect the person’s ability to cope with life, and the prognosis will be more optimistic. |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally: Less Severe | £1,540 to £5,860 | This considers the length of time the disability has affected daily activities and sleep. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Severe | £59,860 to £100,670 | Cases include permanent effects which prevent a person from working or functioning at any pre-trauma level. All aspects of life are badly affected |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 | The injured person will have mostly recovered, and there may be some continuing effects, but they aren’t disabling. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Less Severe | £3,950 to £8,180 | Making a full recovery within two years and only having minor symptoms persisting over a longer period. |
Material Damage
Material damages are the financial impact that could occur as a result of a data breach. For example, a data breach could compromise your:
- Debit/Credit cards
- Bank statements/details
- Credit rating
For more information on what you could do if police disclosed your personal information without your consent or another lawful basis, contact our advisors.
Get Help With A No Win No Fee Police Data Breach Claim
A No Win No Fee agreement is a type of Conditional Fee Agreement. It is an arrangement between you and your solicitor. Essentially, if the claim loses, you don’t have to pay a success fee. If the claim wins, you do pay the success fee. This fee is capped by law, however, so you’re left with the majority of your compensation.
There are also no ongoing or upfront solicitor fees to pay.
If you have any questions about No Win No Fee arrangements, there are links provided at the bottom of this page that go into more detail about No Win No Fee arrangements. However, you could get in touch and our advisors would be happy to explain the process.
Start Your Claim For A Data Breach
In order to answer any burning questions you may have about personal information disclosed by the police without your consent, our advisors are available 24/7 to offer answers, advice and guidance. You can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use our live chat feature
- Contact us via our website
Learn More About Police Data Breach Claims
Here is a collection of resources that could be useful and interesting to you.
- Police Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide
- Medical records data breach
- Data has been breached, what can I do?
The ICO also has guides and information on what you can do if a data breach occurs:
- Make a complaint
- How to report a breach
- How to minimise the risk of personal data breaches happening
If you have any questions or queries about what you could do if police disclosed your personal information without your consent or another lawful reason, then please don’t hesitate to contact our advisors.
Written by Welsh
Edited by Victorine
