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Scarborough Borough Council Data Breach – Compensation Claims Guide

If a Scarborough Borough Council data breach ever happened does this mean personal data has the potential to be exposed? The local council most likely holds some of your personal information. Maintaining the security and privacy of this information comes with certain responsibilities.

Scarborough Borough Council data breach claims guide

Scarborough Borough Council data breach claims guide

Perhaps you’re wondering how could a Scarborough Borough Council data breach potentially happen? We explain the different types of data breaches, and who may be responsible when specific responsibilities aren’t met by a data controller – those who collect personal data.

If a data breach at Scarborough Borough Council occurred and it affected your rights and freedoms you would be told about the breach.

A borough council data breach could result in theft, fraud, it could happen through an accident or deliberate actions. The experience could cause you severe distress with potentially long-term effects on your mental health. To be eligible for compensation the onus is on you to prove that failures led to your personal information being exposed.

If you would like to know if you may be eligible to claim compensation following a data breach, please read this page. Alternatively, you may reach out to one of our advisers using the following contact information.

  • Please dial 0800 073 8804 to speak to a member of the team
  • You can contact a claims advisor directly via the Live Chat
  • Alternatively, send us an email at info@legalexpert.co.uk

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A Guide About How To Claim If A Scarborough Borough Council Data Breach Occurred

Generally, it is the responsibility of any organisation holding on to your personal information and data to keep it safe. The General Data Protection Regulation GDPR an EU directive was enacted into the Data Protection Act 2018 so to ensure personal data was being processed securely. As we have now left the EU, the UK look to the UK GDPR.

Some areas covered throughout our guide include:

In addition, we will answer questions such as:

  • What is the processing time for a data breach settlement?
  • How much would my claim be worth?

The purpose of this guide is to explain what data breach compensation claims are, how they work, and when you might have a claim. We have also included an idea of how much compensation you could be entitled to.

You can reach out to one of our experts if you need further information. Additionally, a data breach lawyer from our team can represent you.

If a Scarborough Borough Council data breach occurred there are steps that you could take to find out why and how this has happened. This guide will provide information on how to do that.

Time Limits

A data breach claim has a time limit. For human rights violations, you have one year to start a claim. This is often true for claims against public bodies. For other breaches, you have six years to start a claim. We recommend taking action as quickly as possible. It will be harder to remember details or locate evidence if you delay too long. As time limits can vary greatly call our team for clarification.

Our advisors are available at all times to answer any questions you may have regarding the compensation process. Whenever you have any questions, our advisors are happy to answer them for free.

Statistics

Based on the 2021 cyber-security breaches survey, 39% of businesses and 26% of charities have reported some type of cyber security breach in the last 12 months. Medium to larger businesses and larger-income charities are targeted the most.

There were fewer businesses that had cyber security breaches compared with the same time last year. This downturn could be due to decreased business activity, which means fewer opportunities for fraud and cyber-crime. It is thought that businesses may have been having difficulties administrating online security measures during the Convid-19 lockdown.

If you have questions regarding the compensation process, our advisers are available at any time. We will be glad to answer all of your questions free of charge.

What Do We Mean By A Claim For A Scarborough Borough Council Data Breach?

Data breaches can happen when a security incident leads to your personal data being lost, stolen, changed, leaked, destroyed or accessed without permission. This can be done accidentally, unlawfully or deliberately. The incident may have been caused by human error or a cyberattack.

What could be classed as a data breach at Scarborough Borough Council? Also if a data breach occurred how could this affect a data subject?

Data subjects could be negatively impacted by a data breach. Firstly they could be caused emotional distress and mental anguish if personal information about them is accessed by authorised parties.

Moreover, there may be a financial loss as well. You may be at risk of identity theft if, for example, your bank information has been compromised through a cyberattack.

An adviser is here to answer any questions you have about the process of claiming compensation.

Does The UK GDPR Apply To A Borough Council?

Local councils are required to abide by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) of the United Kingdom. Those who process personal data are subject to the UK-GDPR, which is a set of regulations. Under UK law, this presence is established by the Data Protection Act 2018. A Scarborough Borough Council data protection officer is likely to deal with data security at the council.

There must be a legal basis for the sharing of information. Currently, there are six legal bases. One of these is consent. However, even if you do not consent, your personal information may be shared if another legal basis justifies the sharing.

What is the legal basis?

  • Consent – your consent is given
  • Contracts – the processing of contracts is necessary
  • Legal obligation – following the law
  • Vital interests – protecting a person
  • Public task – in the public interest
  • Legitimate interests – the process is necessary for your legitimate reasons

Our claim advisors are waiting to take your call. They can provide answers to your questions in an informal chat with no obligation to proceed any further. They operate a 24 hours a day 7 days a week advice line so you can call any time.

Types Of Council Personal Data Protection Breaches

There are many ways your personal data has the potential to be breached. It may not always be clear straight away. If a data breach has occurred the data controller must not only inform you, the data subject, but also the ICO if rights and freedoms are at risk. We have provided potential examples of data breaches below;

  • Sending personal information to the wrong place
  • Local council employees accessing personal information records for their own use
  • Insufficient cybersecurity leads to a cyber-attack
  • Breach of personal information in complaints to the council ruins neighbour relations
  • Leaks of adoption records
  • Staff personal information is accessed without permission

Would you know what to do should a data breach at Scarborough Borough Council arise? For more information on how we can help you, please give one of our team members a call today.

Council Housing Service Data Breach

Social housing is often overseen by local councils. That means local councils will have info like:

  • Rental statements
  • Photocopies of passports
  • Background checks for tenancy applications
  • Background checks on finances, like credit scores and wage slips
  • Information about tenants, like medical records and criminal histories
  • Complaints from tenants

All of this should be kept secure and wiped out when no longer needed. Call our advisors if you think you’ve had your social housing tenancy information breached.

Give one of our team members a call today if you would like more information on how we can help you.

How Do I Report A Data Breach By A Borough Council?

You can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your local council is responsible for the breach. It’s the regulator for data protection. The ICO can investigate your complaint to see if the council is responsible. If they find a data controller has allowed personal data to be breached they may issue a fine among other things.

You should contact your council first before you file a complaint with the ICO. It’ll at least prove you gave the council a chance to work things out. Then you can go to the ICO. Make sure you make your complaint to the ICO within three months of your last contact with the council, because the ICO may not deal with it if it’s been more than three months.

Data Breach Compensation Process Steps

First, you should complain to your local authority. The council might be able to explain what happened and take measures to put things right, as mentioned in the previous section.

If you’ve complained to the council and you didn’t get a reply, or you didn’t get a satisfactory response, you can then make a complaint to the ICO. By now, though, you may already be thinking about pursuing a data breach claim. By contacting our Legal Expert team, you can start the process. You can also ask our team for advice if you’re unsure what to do should a Scarborough Borough Council data breach occur.

Types Of Damages

There are two kinds of damage you can seek compensation for under data protection law:

  • Material damage – covers monetary losses, identity theft, or damage to your credit
  • Non-material damage – the data breach may have caused stress, anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder.

If you’d like more advice on data breach compensation claims, get in touch or look at some of our guides.

You can contact our advisers at any time if you have any questions regarding the compensation process. Our advisors are available to answer any questions you have for free. A member of the team will answer queries you have about a council data breach.

Calculate What You Could Get If A Scarborough Borough Council Data Breach Occurred

There is no way to come to an average settlement for a data breach claim. Each claim is entirely unique to the claimant. Therefore we have not tried to do this. Instead, we have broken down the way compensation may be calculated. There are a variety of ways to prove material damages (like financial losses). You might consider:

  • Salary slips
  • Credit card Statements
  • Bank statements

For non-material damages, you may need an assessment by a psychotherapist who would diagnose any mental health problems or symptoms of serious emotional distress you might be experiencing. Once you have that, you can calculate the value. The Judicial College Guidelines JCG lists past injury values.

As a result of a ruling in a data breach case in the Court of Appeal, it is now possible to claim non-material damages even if there were no monetary losses. The compensation awarded should match that of personal injury values.

The table below provides an idea of the value of specific mental harm. For a more accurate idea, call an adviser today. The figures have been taken from a publication by the Judicial College.

Edit
Mental damage The severity of the emotional anguish caused Possible Compensation Further details
Mental Injury Less severe Up to £5,500 This compensation category would cover less severe psychiatric injury. The award will look at the affects on issues like sleep and how well daily activities can be performed.
Mental Injury Moderately severe £17,900 to £51,460 Compensation for moderately severe mental injury. There’s a good chance the victim’s quality of life would be lowered and their ability to function would suffer. Even after a period of therapy, minor symptoms may still persist.
Mental Injury Severe £51,460 to £108,620 It is in this category that compensation would be provided for severe mental problems as the result of traumatizing experiences that have been experienced repeatedly by the victim.
Mental Injury Moderate £5,500 to £17,900 This award bracket of compensation would be given in the case of moderate mental problems. There will have been substantial injury but the prognosis will be good.

If you have any questions concerning the compensation process, our advisers are available to answer any questions that you may have for free at any time.

No Win No Fee Solicitors Handling Claims For Council Data Breaches

You might be worried that a data breach compensation claim will make things worse if you’ve suffered stress and financial losses. A data breach lawyer who works on a No Win No Fee basis could ease your worries.

It’s important to make a claim that doesn’t add further stress to your life. That’s why we recommend working with No Win No Fee solicitors. A solicitor that operates using a Conditional Fee Agreement gets paid by deducting a “success fee” from the compensation a claimant receives.  In addition, the claimant won’t have to pay up-front for their solicitors. In the event of an unsuccessful claim, the claimant will not have to pay the lawyer’s fees.

You can contact us if you’d like to work with a data breach lawyer. If you have any questions about No Win No Fee agreements, you can get in touch with our team.

Do You Need To Use A Data Breach Solicitor In Your Area?

The variety of communication channels open to us have completely changed how services work. At one time when the only way of instructing a solicitor was to pop down your local high street and make an appointment. Now solicitors can operate remotely. Meaning you can choose a solicitor from anywhere in the country. Location is no longer key. Therefore, you can discuss your case over the phone, by email, via video conference, or via Skype with a solicitor no matter where they are based.

If you have any questions regarding the compensation process, our advisers are always available to answer them free of charge. A member of the team will review your case. They can introduce you to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors if we believe you have good reason to sue for council data breach compensation.

Contact Legal Expert

We’re here to answer any questions you might have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Here’s how you can contact us:

We are always happy to assist people who need free legal advice about claiming compensation from a third party.

Other Claims Guides

Other Legal Expert guides of interest:

Links to external websites offering essential reading:

Filing a complaint with a local council

More information on the 7 core principles of the UK GDPR

Questions Asked About Data Breaches

Here is a shortlist of answers to some questions that people are quite often asking about claims of data breaches.

How do I know my data was breached?

If your freedoms and rights have been put at risk then the data controller must inform you of the breach.

What is the impact of a data breach?

It can lead to fraud, identity theft, and mental anguish.

How can I protect myself?

If a council data breach happens you should change all your passwords and usernames as soon as you can. Also, you should check bank accounts and credit card spending.

Where can I find independent data protection advice

You can visit the Information Commissioner’s website for further data protection advice. Additionally, Citizen’s Advice also provides information and advice on data breaches. Or you could call our team any time that is convenient for you.

If a Scarborough Borough Council data breach ever happened does this mean personal data has the potential to be exposed? Call for information.

Guide By Woods

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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