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Nottingham Trent University Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim? – Amounts For Nottingham Trent University Data Breach

There are many valid reasons why a university needs to process personal information about its students and staff. However, that information, which is sometimes sensitive, could be valuable and used to cause harm if it ends up in the wrong hands, so steps need to be taken to secure it. In this article, we’ll explain what is meant by a data breach compensation claim against Nottingham Trent University, what harm can result and the amount of compensation that might be paid.

Nottingham Trent University data breach claims guide

Nottingham Trent University data breach claims guide

Unless you don’t go online much, you can’t have missed the fact that the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR to its friends, has been launched. It came into effect when The Data Protection Act 2018 was enacted. Such laws have added a whole new meaning to how data should be handled. If you have been harmed because your data was misused or not protected as it should have been you may be eligible to claim compensation.

Legal Expert is happy to assist you if you decide to claim. We provide a free advice service as well as a no-obligation review of your case. Should your claim appear viable, it could be passed to a specialist solicitor. If they agree to take the claim on, it will be processed using our No Win No Fee service.

Please call us today on 0800 073 8804 if you wish to discuss how you’ve been affected by a university data breach. If you’d like to know more first, please continue reading.

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A Guide To Making A Data Breach Claim Against Nottingham Trent University

There is no doubt that the way in which we do anything that involves our personal information has changed in recent times. When you register with a GP, make an online purchase, sign up to a website or hire a car, you’ll often have to sift through paragraphs or pages of information on how your data will be processed. Additionally, you may be asked to tick boxes (or click on annoying pop-up messages) to confirm you’re happy.

The reason for those GDPR interactions is that the new rules mean data controllers are liable for how your data is handled. They may explain how it will be used, where it is to be stored and if it might be shared. On top of that, they need to ask your permission first. But not always.  If data breaches happen, because data protection rules are broken, the ICO can decide to start an investigation. They can slow fine those responsible. Furthermore, data subjects who’ve suffered following the breach may be eligible for compensation.

These types of claims are time-limited. That means, for most claims, your claim must be submitted within 6-years. However, it is worth verifying how long you have as cases regarding human rights breaches are limited to a single year. We do suggest starting a claim as soon as you can. You might find it’s easier to remember how you have been affected when discussing the case with a solicitor. Also, evidence to support the claim may be a lot easier to get hold of in the weeks and months after the event took place. Your data breach solicitor will show you how to collect the evidence you need.

What Would Be A Data Breach At Nottingham Trent University?

Because we live in a digital world, we often consider data breaches as being something related exclusively to malware, spyware, ransomware, keyloggers, denial of service attacks and other cybersecurity issues. However, the GDPR is just as interested in personal data that’s found on pieces of paper. That means that if a company holds records containing personally identifiable information, they must destroy it securely rather than throwing it in general bins. Where it could end up in the public domain.

Because of the introduction of these laws, individuals (data subjects) have more say over how organisations (data controllers) use their personal information. Additionally, the new laws mean companies must implement security measures to try and keep such data safe. Failure to do so could mean the company is in breach of the law. As such, they could face a heavy financial penalty from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The GDPR provides a definition of a personal data breach. It states that they are events that take place because a security issue leads to information about a data subject being accessed, lost, destroyed, altered or disclosed by an unauthorised party. Data breaches can be investigated by the ICO if they are caused by deliberate, accidental or illegal acts.

Data controllers need to investigate any breach they become aware of. They must let any data subjects who might be at risk know what information was taken. Also, how the breach occurred and when it happened. At the same point, the ICO needs to be informed.

For free advice on whether you’re able to start a university data breach claim, why not get in touch with Legal Expert today?

What Is Meant By Breaches Of The GDPR At Universities

While some legislation is difficult to read unless you have a law degree, the GDPR is explained in fairly simple terms. It is 88-pages in length and contains a list of roles, rules and responsibilities in plain English. For example, universities (when they are registered as data controllers) need to be able to show they comply with the following rules. They must:

  • Only obtain the information that is required from data subjects and nothing further.
  • Use techniques that are transparent, legal and fair when processing information.
  • Never keep personal information for any longer than is necessary.
  • Provide a method to allow personal information to be kept up to date.
  • Process personal information in a secure and confidential fashion.

The type of information that is covered by the legislation is anything that could help to identify the data subject. Examples include names, email addresses, telephone numbers, staff or student ID numbers and home addresses as they could all directly help to identify individuals. Any information which could be used to indirectly identify somebody is also covered. Examples include details of disabilities, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.

Examples Of How Universities Have Been Impacted By Breaches Of Data Protection

There are no Nottingham Trent University data breaches listed on the ICO website at the time of writing. So we have decided to explain the data breach that affected some British Universities. In May 2020 a data breach occurred affecting a database provider.

The breach, in May, affected a company named Blackbaud who provides a cloud-based database that many universities use. After an investigation, the company found that their backup servers had been accessed illegally and a set of data was downloaded by the hackers.

Blackbaud contacted affected customers. Providing advice to any data subjects who might be at risk as to what to look out for.

However, against the usual advice, the company decided to pay the ransom so that the data that had been stolen was destroyed.

Further Information: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53528329

If you’d like us to check if your case is suitable for a university data breach claim, why not call our team of specialists today?

How Many Universities Have Been Affected By Breaches In Data Protection?

A recent study into university data security by a data security company has revealed some statistics. Their report, based on 86 university responses shows that:

  • 54% of all respondents had been in touch with the ICO in the last year to report a data breach.
  • 49% of universities offer no proactive data security training to students.
  • Annual data awareness training budgets for staff were set at just £7,529 per university.
  • 27% reported that no penetration test (by a third party) had ever been conducted on their IT equipment.
  • 46% of employees had not received advice on cybersecurity techniques.

Study URL: https://www.redscan.com/media/The-state-of-cyber-security-across-UK-universities-Redscan-report.pdf

Criminal Breaches In Cyber And Information Security

We’d now like to look at what measures could be implemented to help reduce cybersecurity data breaches in the future. We don’t specialise in data security ourselves but there are some common industry recommendations which could improve things. They include:

  • Adequately training students, staff and contractor on data security methods.
  • Using software solutions to encrypt disks on portable devices so that sensitive data can’t be accessed if lost or stolen.
  • Using external network security firms to perform a penetration test to try and identify security issues before they are exploited by criminal hackers.
  • Having data privacy policies that are reviewed regularly and updated.
  • Setting rules that all devices must be fully patched with security updates before use.

Although these measures can seem expensive, they could also prevent the university from being fined. Furthermore, they could prevent a lot of harm in the future.

How Could I Be Compensated If My Data Privacy Has Been Breached?

As with any other type of compensation claim, you can’t just ask for compensation to be paid, you need to provide evidence to justify the amount you’re asking for. Also, once a claim is settled, you can’t ask for further compensation. Therefore, you will need to consider what other forms of suffering could happen in the future before submitting your claim.

The first part of your claim will generally be for pecuniary losses. This is known as material damages. You will usually start by assessing how much you are out of pocket already following the data breach. Then you may need to consider future losses as well. For example, if your personal information has been used by criminals to obtain loans or credit cards. If that’s the case, your credit file may be damaged.

In a similar way, a claim for psychological injuries, called a non-material damages claim, would start with conditions like stress, anxiety or depression which have already been medically diagnosed. Then you may look at how you may suffer in the future. For example, you might struggle to manage relationships, return to work or cope with daily issues if you’re suffering from long-term depression.

As you can see, these claims can become quite complex, quite quickly. That is why we advise you to take on legal support. A specialist data breach lawyer would know how to ensure your case is filed correctly. If you would like to work with Legal Expert, you could be appointed a specialist solicitor if your case is taken on. When that happens, your solicitor will assess your case thoroughly. They will try and ensure all aspects of your suffering are considered before the case is taken on.

Compensation Calculator – Data Breach Claim Against Nottingham Trent University

We are now going to explain what amount of compensation might be paid for any psychological suffering. Of course, we can only provide personal compensation estimates after your case has been reviewed. However, the details in this section should give an idea of potential compensation figures. The figures only look at phycological suffering. They do not include any financial suffering and are in accordance with personal injury claims.

The Court of Appeal stated that you can claim psychological injuries caused by a personal data breach without having lost out financially. Also, when considering the case of Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015], the court decided payments should be made at the same rates as awarded in personal injury law.

The table we have supplied below contains some example figures for relevant injuries as listed in the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Courts, lawyers and other legal professionals may use the JCG to help calculate compensation amounts.

Edit
Type of Claim Severity Compensation Bracket Further Details
Psychiatric Injury Severe £51,460 to £108,620 Treatment is unlikely to improve things for a claimant in this category. They will receive a very poor prognosis because they will be vulnerable, struggle to cope with life and have difficulty with relationships.
Psychiatric Injury Moderately Severe £17,900 to £51,460 The claimant will have significant issues similar to those listed above. However, their prognosis will be more optimistic.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Severe £56,180 to £94,470 Permanent symptoms of PTSD will mean the claimant won’t be able to function at previous levels or return to work.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Moderately Severe £21,730 to £56,180 The symptoms in this category will be serious for the foreseeable future but, professional care will offer some chance of improvement.

In the table, you will see that a key factor used in compensation calculations is the severity of the injury. For that reason, you will need to attend a local medical assessment as part of the claims process. During your appointment, you will be asked several relevant questions by an independent specialist. They may also refer to any medical notes to help determine the effects of the data breach.

Once the assessment has ended, the specialist will write a report which lists their findings and forward it to your solicitor.

How Do Claims For Breaches Of Data Protection Rules Work?

As you have now have read this guide you might have further questions about a data breach claim against Nottingham Trent University. Our advice would be that you always consider the benefits of legal representation. But how should you choose a solicitor? Well, it might be that you’ll find one by scouring the high street, reading reviews or listening to recommendations from friends.

Alternatively, you might want to call the Legal Expert advice line. By doing so, you can ask a specialist advisor as many questions as you like. They will provide legal advice for free and assess your case on a no-obligation basis. If your case is strong enough to be taken on, we could appoint a solicitor to work on it for you. They will use their expertise to answer any queries throughout the case, explain any complex terms, and handle all communication with the defendant. In all cases, our solicitors will work hard to try and ensure the full amount of compensation possible in your case is paid.

Why not call our advice line today so that you can find out more about our service?

No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim Against Nottingham Trent University

Many claimants are worried about the claims process due to the fact of solicitors charging high legal fees. To alleviate some of your worries, we would like to point out that our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis for any claim they take on. As the financial risk is reduced, you will find the whole process less stressful.

We will need to assess the chances of winning your case before it is accepted. When a solicitor is happy to proceed, you will be supplied with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to read. This contract will be used to fund the claim and will show you that:

  • Solicitors don’t require any form of upfront payment.
  • Your solicitor will not bill their fees to you while the case continues.
  • No solicitor’s fees will need to be paid should the claim fail.

If the claim has a positive outcome, a success fee will be deducted from your compensation to cover your solicitor’s work. The fee is a fixed percentage of your compensation which you can review in your CFA before you sign it. For your peace of mind, we’d like to state that success fees are legally capped to prevent overcharging.

We can check whether your case is suitable for our No Win No Fee service if you call our advice centre today.

Start Your Data Breach Claim

You are nearing the end of this article about university data breach claims. We do hope that the details we have supplied have helped you. If you have any further questions about a data breach claim against Nottingham Trent University here is how to get in touch;

We do not want to offer false hope or waste your time so our advisors will always be honest about your chances of winning your case. Following a no-obligation assessment of the case along with free advice, we could connect you with one of our solicitors if there is a reasonable chance of success. Any claims that Legal Expert accepts are handled using our No Win No Fee service.

Data Protection Breach Claim Resources

We would like to thank you for reading this Legal Expert guide. For more advice on whether or not you could make a data breach claim against Nottingham Trent University, our team are ready to help. In this final part of our guide, we are going to share some links with you that might be needed during your claim. Additionally, to demonstrate other cases we could help you claim for, we have provided links to more of our guides as well.

ICO Prosecutions – An up-to-date list of prosecutions initiated by the ICO for data protection breaches.

Looking After Your Mental Health – An NHS webpage providing advice on mental health matters.

Leg Injury Claims – Details on when it might be possible to claim for leg injuries caused by somebody else’s negligence.

Local Authority Claims – Information on when our solicitors could support you with claims against your local council.

Claiming For An Assault – This guide explains a scheme where you could be compensated for criminal injuries.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

Written By Hambridge

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.