University Of Bradford Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide
In this article, we examine the concept of data breach compensation claims against the University of Bradford. We entrust our personal information to many different organisations. Increasingly, people provide personal information such as credit card details and personal addresses to organisations and businesses, especially when signing up for things online. Many people may not think much of it, but keeping the confidentiality and security of this data is crucial to your privacy and safety.
University Of Bradford data breach claims guide
Sadly, people may have the privacy of their data violated, either due to companies misusing the data, providing it to other organisations without permission or failing to protect it. This can have serious consequences for the victim, which we will detail later on in this guide and which you will likely be already familiar with if you have experienced a data breach yourself.
This article is a guide to how and when you could be entitled to claim. Legal Expert has a team of solicitors who could happily take on your case. Please get in touch with us if you would like to know more after you have read through this page. Our advisors can offer free legal advice and our solicitors can help you claim under a No Win No Fee Agreement. You can contact us by:
- Giving us your contact details and a brief description of your situation.
- Sending a message through our live chat.
- Ringing 0800 073 8804.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
- What Is A Breach Of Data By A University
- GDPR Compliance In Higher Education
- Examples Of How Universities May Be Affected By Data Breaches
- Statistics On Security And Data Breaches Affecting Universities
- Cybersecurity And Criminal Data Thefts
- How You Could Be Compensated If Affected By A University Data Breach
- Calculating Compensation For Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
- How To Find Solicitors Handling Higher Education Data Breach Claims
- No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
- Speaking To An Expert
- Need More Data Breach Claim Info?
A Guide To Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
This guide is going to cover the basics of how data breach claims work and how you can go about making them. First, we will go through what the relevant laws and regulations are concerning data protection. This should give you an outline of when and how you could have grounds to claim against a university for breaking data protection laws.
Then we will go on to explain how you could interact with these regulatory bodies, especially the ICO. We’ll also explore the benefits of making a compensation claim with solicitors rather than going at it alone. We will explain some of the important points in the process. These include how your compensation amount could be calculated and how you could save yourself some of the financial risks of hiring a solicitor by using a No Win No Fee solicitor.
You have a window of time in which you have the opportunity to begin your claim. This time limit is six years in most cases. It’s one year if you want to attempt to make a claim on human rights grounds.
What Is A Breach Of Data By A University?
Universities are obligated to inform people if a data breach of their personal information occurs. Universities tend to be data controllers. Data controllers determine what data they need, how they’ll process it and why. They should inform you if they detect a breach that causes your personal information to be accidentally or unlawfully:
- Lost.
- Altered.
- Disclosed without authorisation.
- Accessed without authorisation.
If the university informs you of a breach or you become aware of one yourself, and the breach has caused you harm in some way, you could be entitled to make a data breach claim.
A data breach claim is when you take legal action against someone else for failing to do their duty to protect your personal data. This would be on the basis of you proving that their wrongdoing has hurt you. If you win your case, you may receive financial compensation.
If you are not sure what may be meant by a University of Bradford data breach, read on or contact our advisors. They’re available 24/7 and offer free legal advice on the number at the top of the page.
GDPR Compliance In Higher Education
Higher education institutions are just one example of data controllers which will collect and store extensive amounts and different types of personal information. As such, they must comply with the rules and laws which regulate the collection and use of people’s personal information. The rules are set down by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a set of EU rules which are required to be enforced in all member states of the European Union. The UK complies with the terms of the GDPR by having the Data Protection Act 2018. If you would like to learn more about the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, you can read up on their specific terms.
The rules set out in the GDPR which the University of Bradford must comply with are:
- Collecting data in a way that is legal and transparent to the people providing their data.
- Only collecting the minimum amount of information needed for their purposes.
- Using the data for clearly expressed purposes.
- Only storing the data on record for as long as necessary.
- Ensuring that the data is accurate and they update it where necessary.
- Ensuring that all the methods reasonably available for protecting the integrity of the information are in place.
- Being able to provide proof that these conditions have been met.
Examples Of How Universities May Be Affected By Data Breaches
One example of a university suffering a data breach that had a significant impact is an incident involving the University of Greenwich. A microsite, which a student and an academic at the institution made in 2004 for a conference, was not closed down afterwards. It was compromised in a cyberattack years later. The attackers exploited the vulnerability of this site in a hack in 2016.
They accessed and posted online the personal details of 19,500 people. Some of this data pertained to sensitive personal information such as learning disabilities or notices of extenuating circumstances. The majority of the data related to people’s names, addresses and contact details.
The ICO handed the University of Greenwich a fine of £120,000 in the wake of this incident. This was because an investigation into the incident ruled that the university had breached data protection rules.
For more information about a claim for a university data breach, freephone our advisors today. They’re ready to take your call any time of any day.
Statistics On Security And Data Breaches Affecting Universities
A report in 2020 found that 54% of the 86 respondent universities had reported a data breach to the ICO within the previous 12 months. Also, 46% of university staff have reportedly not received cybersecurity awareness training in the last year. And 51% of universities reported that they provided cybersecurity awareness training to their students. One university reported that it had detected over 130 million phishing emails in the past 12 months alone.
Source: https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/54-of-universities-reported-a-data-breach-in-the-past-year
Cybersecurity And Criminal Data Thefts
There are experts who are warning that the current measures universities take in the UK are not adequate to protect against the developing and growing threat of hacking and cyber-attacks.
Source: https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/security-testers-breach-university-cyber-defences-in-two-hours
The stakes are also becoming higher as well. In the wake of the global Coronavirus pandemic and the race to find effective treatment and vaccines, cyber attackers targeted universities carrying out research into Covid-19. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has reported that a number of foreign states have attempted cyber attacks on British universities.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/03/hostile-states-trying-to-steal-coronavirus-research-says-uk-agency
How You Could Be Compensated If Affected By A University Data Breach
Being the victim of a data breach can be harmful in a number of different ways. Importantly, it could cause the persons affected by it to experience emotional distress, such as anxiety and fear. This could be caused by the sense of betrayal and vulnerability, knowing your personal information is potentially compromised. It could also be caused by the impact of being subject to different potential forms of harassment or theft as a result of your personal details being accessed. There is a legal precedent to awarding compensation for trauma or distress caused by a personal information breach.
In addition, another danger associated with personal data breaches is the risk of theft. If an attacker compromises a person’s bank details, credit card details and any passwords or usernames associated with their financial matters, then there is the danger of theft. This could include withdrawing money or using people’s information to make purchases. This can have a lasting impact on your financial situation, as credit rating scores could be potentially impacted.
This guide about data breach claims against the University of Bradford aims to give you information to help you. If you need to talk to anyone though, get in touch with our advisors. They offer free legal advice.
Calculating Compensation For Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
Calculating compensation in a data breach case could be a potentially complex matter. You may have a number of different factors that have to be worked out. These factors include the severity of the financial and emotional harm you have experienced as a result of the breach.
Financial harm can be calculated to reflect the value of the money you are able to prove you have lost as a result of the breach. Then compensation for your emotional stress or mental trauma is assessed by the severity of the conditions. The more severe your case is, the more compensation you could claim. If you have lasting symptoms, you could be entitled to more than if you have already made a recovery. If you are predicted to struggle with the side effects in the long term or permanently, then you could claim for future suffering.
Your symptoms are unique to you, and can only be definitively assessed by a medical professional. Once they have a full and detailed picture of your mental health situation, the medical professional will produce a report. If you choose to use a solicitor, they would use this report to value your injuries.
So if you would like a proper assessment of how much compensation you could be entitled to claim, please get in touch to have a discussion with our advisors. In the meantime, we can at least show you our compensation table. It shows an outline of what amounts of compensation could be awarded for different degrees of mental and emotional harm in the wake of a data breach. It is based on the figures in the Judicial College Guidelines, a publication solicitors may use to value claims.
| Injury Type | Notes | Settlement Range |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Permanent symptoms which stop the victim from functioning (in relationships, work or life in general) at anywhere near pre-trauma levels. | £56,180 to £94,470 |
| Moderately Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Similar symptoms to above but there will be a better prognosis because professional support should help improve the situation. | £21,730 to £56,180 |
| Moderate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Most major symptoms will have been resolved and any that persist won’t be massively problematic. | £7,680 to £21,730 |
| Severe Psychiatric Injury | Serious problems with coping with life, work and relationships. The prognosis will be very poor in this category. | £51,460 to £108,620 |
| Moderately Severe Psychiatric injury | Similar to above but the prognosis will be more optimistic. | £17,900 to £51,460 |
How To Find Solicitors Handling Higher Education Data Breach Claims
If you are going to look for a lawyer to handle a data breach claim against a higher education institution, then you should set your standards high. And you don’t necessarily have to be concerned about the potential location of a good lawyer.
Don’t worry about your potential solicitors’ location because solicitors can manage your claim remotely. We recommend that you don’t settle for a lawyer who isn’t an expert in the field of making claims like yours. A successful track record could also be a useful indicator of their skill. Use online reviews to find the lawyers who satisfied clients with the timely and successful outcomes of their cases. We also advise that you choose lawyers with reviews that express the good working relationship they had with their clients. Being able to work and communicate well with a lawyer is a crucial factor in making a successful claim.
To conclude, if you want to see what good reviews look like, look no further than the reviews page of our own website. See what some of our impressed clients thought about their experiences of working with our solicitors. If you would like to work with a Legal Expert solicitor, then the first step will be getting in touch with our advice team using the contact information at the bottom of the page.
If so, call our advisors for more information. They are ready to take your calls and messages any time, 7 days a week.
No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against The University Of Bradford
Legal Expert solicitors all work to a No Win No Fee structure. Meaning if they take your claim on you will be provided with a No Win No Fee agreement. This is a type of financial arrangement between a claimant and their solicitor which reduces the risk of suffering financial harm in the event of an unsuccessful claim.
When starting a claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you sign an agreement with your solicitor. In it, you commit to providing the solicitor with a small success fee if your claim is successful. In return, they commit to waiving their legal fees if the claim is unsuccessful. This makes their payment conditional on the success of the case. That means they share the risk with you.
Additionally, under such an agreement, you wouldn’t have to pay upfront solicitor fees. You also don’t pay fees until your case is over and you’ve won.
Getting a No Win No Fee agreement with a lawyer is often a good sign, as it could mean that they are confident of winning. If you would like to learn more about making a No Win No Fee claim, please read this guide.
Speaking To An Expert
Thank you for reading our guide to data breach claims against the University of Bradford. If you want to speak to one of our experts for free legal advice, or for them to put you in touch with a lawyer, you can:
- Send us your contact details and a brief description of why you’d like to claim.
- Send a message through our live chat.
- Ring 0800 073 8804
Need More Data Breach Claim Info?
- How to make a claim if your credit card details have been breached
- How to make a data breach complaint to the Information Commissioners office
- Data breach guidance for families and individuals
- How to make a data breach claim against a housing association
- ICO guidance to penalties for data breaches
- Data breach claims against the University of Greenwich claims guide
- Teesside University Data Breach
- The Arts University Bournemouth Data Breach
- The Open University Data Breach
- Transform Hospital Group Data Breach
- University of Aberdeen Data Breach
- University of Bedfordshire Data Breach
- Can I Get Compensation For Loss of Medical Records?
- University of Brighton Data Breach
- University of Buckingham Data Breach
- University of Cambridge Data Breach
- University of Central Lancashire Data Breach
- University of Cumbria Data Breach
- University of East Anglia Data Breach
- University of Edinburgh Data Breach
- University of Glasgow Data Breach
- University of Gloucestershire Data Breach
- University of Huddersfield Data Breach
- University of Hull Data Breach
- University of Kent Data Breach
- University of Lincoln Data Breach
- Data Breach Solicitors
Written by Yarlett
Edited by Victorine
