University Of Derby Data Breach Compensation Claims Experts

100% No Win, No Fee Claims
Nothing to pay if you lose.

  • Free legal advice from a friendly solicitor.
  • Specialist solicitors with up to 30 years experience
  • Find out if you can claim compensation Call 0800 073 8804

Start My Claim Online

University Of Derby Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide

This guide examines what may be meant by a University of Derby data breach. If a data breach has caused you financial expenses or has had a detrimental effect on your mental health, you may be able to claim compensation. We put this guide together to show you how.

University Of Derby data breach claims guide

University Of Derby data breach claims guide

Hackings, phishing, ransomware or malware attacks can all cause data breaches. Data breaches could also be the result of a simple error by a university employee. In the sections below, we talk more about how a breach of data could affect you. And we give you a background on the laws that help protect the security of your personal information.

We offer insight into data breach compensation payouts and give you advice on finding a lawyer to help you claim. If you would like to get started with a  claim or would like expert advice on your eligibility to claim, you can call our team. They’re available on 0800 073 8804. We’d be happy to answer your questions and help you begin your claim.

Select A Section

A Guide To Data Breach Claims Against University of Derby

There are a number of organisations that could hold, store and process personal data. Universities process data relating to their students, staff and alumni, to name just a few examples. But what happens if it fails to process or store that data in accordance with the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018. And what happens if someone loses your personal data, discloses it without your permission or steals it? How could this affect you financially and emotionally? And could you claim compensation for the unwanted consequences of a data breach? 

This guide aims to answer all of these questions and more. It aims to help you understand what may be meant by a University of Derby data breach.

If you have any questions about data breaches by the University of Derby, call our team at any time or continue reading as this guide may answer your questions. We explain data protection laws in more detail and show how they apply to universities. In addition to this, we give some examples of data breaches that have affected universities, and how they could lead to claims. Finally, we show you the benefits of using a lawyer when it comes to making data breach claims and show you how you can claim without having to pay for legal help upfront.

What Is A Data Breach Affecting University of Derby?

All organisations that hold and process personal data have certain laws that they must abide by. These include the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. If these laws are breached, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) could investigate the organisations. They could also hand them significant fines. Universities, as organisations that hold and process data, are not exempt from such laws. If you’ve suffered harm because of a data breach, you could be eligible to claim compensation from the university.

What Is A Data Protection Act Breach?

A breach of personal data, according to GDPR, is an incident that causes personal data to be accidentally or unlawfully:

  • Destroyed
  • Lost 
  • Altered
  • Disclosed
  • Accessed

This is providing you haven’t given consent for any of the above to happen. There are also circumstances where organisations don’t need your consent to use your data. 

How Could A Breach Happen?

There are various incidents that could potentially cause a university breach, including a University of Derby data breach. The breach could come from inside of the organisation, via insider threat or an employee’s mistake. It could also come from outside the organisation, via a third party database provider or a hacker, for example. Data breaches could be malicious or accidental. Examples could include: 

  • A password attack
  • A hack
  • Malware
  • Ransomware
  • Mistakes by employees
  • Lack of maintenance of cyber security software
  • Loss/theft of devices containing information
  • A Distributed Denial of Service attack

How Could A Data Breach Harm Me?

There are several ways in which a data breach could harm you. They could include:

  • Emotional distress – a data breach could lead to you becoming anxious, stressed or depressed.
  • Financial theft – someone could potentially use your personal data to access your bank account. They could steal money from you or purchase things in your name.
  • Identity theft – if your personal data were to fall into the wrong hands, someone could potentially assume your identity and could fraudulently apply for finance using your name.

Our advisors can also help. If a breach has led to you suffering emotional distress or financial harm, we could help assess whether you could be eligible for compensation. Call today to find out more.

The GDPR And Data Protection Regulations

It is vital that universities do all that they can in order to protect your personal data. GDPR, is arguably the strongest current data privacy and security law in the world. Any organisation that processes data relating to data subjects is known as a data controller. The law requires organisations to abide by its 7 principles, which are:

  1. Accountability
  2. Limitation of purpose
  3. Minimisation of data
  4. Accuracy
  5. Transparency, lawfulness and fairness
  6. Confidentiality/integrity
  7. Limitation of storage

What Action Could Potentially Be Taken For A University Of Derby Data Breach?

If a data security incident did happen in a university and GDPR is breached, it could lead to an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office. The ICO enforces data protection law in the UK. They have the power to take action against organisations that breach these laws, including fining them. The ICO decides penalties on a case by case basis.

The ICO could fine universities for breaching GDPR but, if a breach caused you harm, you could also claim. 

Which Universities Have Been Affected By Hacks And Data Security Incidents?

It is vital for universities to have effective security in place to protect the personal data they hold on alumni, staff and students. But sometimes things do go wrong, resulting in university data breaches. Here are just 2 examples:

  • The Blackbaud hack – in 2020, a cloud computing provider that held data relating to staff, alumni and students of various UK universities was targeted in a ransomware attack. Hackers accessed personal details such as names, genders, addresses and contact information without authorisation. The database company paid the perpetrator a ransom and were confident that they’d destroyed the data.

Source: https://universitybusiness.co.uk/headlines/data-breach-at-eight-uk-universities/

  • Greenwich University – in 2018, Greenwich University was fined £120,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to a data breach. The breach of data occurred when a microsite was not properly secured. It led to attackers posting the names and contact information of nearly 20,000 people online. 

Whether a known data breach incident has affected you, or you’ve just found out about it and want to explore whether you could claim compensation, we could help you. All you need to do to get a free eligibility assessment is call our expert advisors. For more information about a university data breach, call our advisors today.

How Many Universities Have Had Data Security Incidents?

We mentioned microsite insecurity and ransomware attack examples leading to data breaches, but these are not the only incidents universities have reported. An article by IT Governance shares the statistics surrounding university data security. They’re based on 86 universities’ responses to Freedom of Information requests.

They reveal that only 46% of university staff in the UK have been given awareness training, with only 51% of universities proactively training students. In addition to this, in 2019/20, 54% of the universities reported data breaches to the ICO.

Added to this, Jisc (digital solutions provider) was able to access over 50 university systems within 2 hours while penetration testing in 2019. This perhaps reveals the lack of robust security systems.

Source: https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/54-of-universities-reported-a-data-breach-in-the-past-year

Cybersecurity Incident And Thefts Of Private Data

There are lots of different cybersecurity incidents that universities could be at risk of. These could include:

  • Malware or viruses – viruses could enter dangerous code into computer systems, leading to theft, loss, alteration or disclosure of data.
  • Theft of information – if someone is able to gain access to universities’ systems, they could steal personal data. They may even be able to gain access to sensitive research information.
  • Keystroke recorders – if someone installs a program that records keystrokes onto the computer system of an authorised user, it could record their username and password.
  • Ransomware – just like the Blackbaud hack, someone could gain access to information and then ask for a ransom for its return or destruction
  • Phishing – an authorised user could be directed to a fake site set up to look similar to a legitimate one. If they enter their login credentials, an unauthorised third party could get access to their account.
  • Password guessing – If an unauthorised user uncovers someone’s password, they could access the authorised user’s data.
  • Denial of service attacks – this is where a hacker shuts down the access of authorised users from a system.

Whether the data breach you’ve suffered harm from involved any of the above incidents or something different, we could help assess whether you could claim.

What Compensation Are You Eligible To Claim?

So far, we’ve explored what a potential university data breach could entail. We move on to discuss compensation.

Claiming compensation for a data breach doesn’t just mean claiming for the financial harm you’ve experienced. Data protection law allows data breach victims to claim for both non-material and material damages, and these could include psychological injuries caused by the breach.

Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015] – Court of Appeal

The above case set a legal precedent when it came to claiming compensation caused by a data breach. The judge who was presiding over the case addressed the issue of whether you could claim if you’ve suffered psychological damage but not financial.

What this means is that if you have suffered anxiety, stress, depression and anguish, you could now claim compensation for detrimental effects on your mental health if they were a result of the breach of data. You don’t have to suffer financially as well. Essentially, now you can claim for both financial loss and psychiatric damage, or either.

Data Breach Compensation Calculator For Claims Against University of Derby

If you are claiming compensation for quantifiable financial expenses a data breach caused, you may find them fairly straightforward to work out. You should be able to assess how much financial loss the data breach caused you. And you would use evidence such as bank statements to prove theft or fraudulent purchases, for example. When it comes to claiming for psychological harm caused by a data breach, however, working out an appropriate compensation amount could be a little more complex.

As part of your distress claim, you would have to see an independent clinical expert. They would take a look at your available notes and ask you some questions about how the breach has affected you. They’d write a report that explains your condition and your prognosis. This could serve as evidence that the breach caused the worsening of your condition or caused it entirely. A solicitor would use the report to help work out an appropriate settlement for you.

Psychological Injury Compensation Explained

We understand that many people would prefer to get some idea of how much compensation they could claim before they go ahead and begin one. To give you some guidance on psychological injury payout amounts, we have replicated figures from the Judicial College Guidelines relating to different levels of injury. These could be used to get a rough idea of how much compensation could be appropriate for your claim. (The JCG is a regularly updated publication solicitors may use to value injuries.)

Edit
Injury Level Of Severity Approx Compensation Guide
Post-traumatic stress Severe £56,180 to £94,470
Post-traumatic stress Moderately severe £21,730 to £56,180
Post-traumatic stress Moderate £7,680 to £21,730
Post-traumatic stress Less severe £3,710 to £7,680
General psychiatric damage Severe £51,460 to £108,620
General psychiatric damage Moderately severe £17,900 to £51,460
General psychiatric damage Moderate £5,500 to £17,900
General psychiatric damage Less severe £1,440 to £5,500

If you are at all unsure as to which category your injuries could fall into, our advisors would be happy to talk to you. You could also call to discuss anything else you’d like to query regarding this guide on a university data breach. 

How Do I Make Sure I Have The Right Solicitor?

First of all, we should make something clear; you do not legally have to use a solicitor when making data breach claims. However, there could be several benefits to doing so. Not only could a good lawyer help maximise the amount of compensation you could look to receive, but they could also help you make sure you had as strong a case as possible against the organisation.

There are also restrictions when it comes to how long you have to make your claim. It is one year for human rights breaches and 6 years for data breaches. A lawyer could help make sure you submit paperwork within the limitation period relevant to your claim.

Finding your solicitor

If you’ve decided you’d like legal assistance when making your data breach claim, we know that there are several options open to you. So, how do you know whether you’re making the most appropriate choice for your needs? Some things you might want to consider when choosing your lawyer could include:

  • Reading reviews.
  • Getting a free, no-obligation assessment.
  • Asking questions about their success rate, how they communicate/keep you updated, etc.

Why Legal Expert?

We’d be delighted to help you with data breach claims. We have plenty of experience in helping people access the compensation they deserve. Our friendly, knowledgeable advisors are able to offer answers to any questions you might have about making a claim. We can check your eligibility to claim for free, and our No Win No Fee solicitors come very well regarded. We have successfully helped many claimants in a variety of situations get the compensation they deserve. If you’d like to learn more about what other claimants have thought of our services, you can read some of our reviews.

No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against University of Derby

If you would like assistance from a solicitor when making a claim, you may be happy to learn that this would not necessarily mean you’d have to pay legal fees upfront.

All Legal Expert solicitors work under No Win No Fee terms. This means that you’d only pay solicitor fees if you win your case. And, better still, you wouldn’t need to pay the fees if your claim doesn’t result in a compensation payout.

No Win No Fee claims are also known as Conditional Fee Agreements. Your solicitor would send the agreement to you prior to starting work on your claim. It would show you how much of a success fee you’d pay your lawyer once they’d achieved a payout for you. (The fee is lawfully capped at a small percentage.)

Once you sign the document and return it to your lawyer, they’ll begin working on your case. If you’d like us to give you more information on making claims under these terms, you can read our No Win No Fee guide, or talk to our advisors. We’d be happy to connect you with a No Win No Fee data breach lawyer to help with your claim.

Talk To Our Specialist Solicitors

We hope you found this guide about data breach claims against the University of Derby helpful. No matter whether the data breach you suffered harm from was due to a malware attack, hacking or a simple employee error, we’re here to help. We could assess your case and answer any questions you might have about making data breach claims. We could also provide you with a No Win No Fee solicitor to help make your claim. Our advisors offer free legal advice and you’re under no pressure to proceed with our services after discussing your case. You can contact us in any one of the ways below:

Data Breach Claim Resources

Making a SAR (Subject Access Request) – If you want to find out what information an organisation holds on you, you could find out how to make a subject access request via this link.

Information Compliance Reporting – If you want to know what incidents could lead to an organisation reporting a breach of data to the ICO, this link could help.

Raising A Concern – The Information Commissioner’s Office gives guidance as to how you could report concerns about your data.

Lost Data Claims – You could claim data breach compensation if your data has been lost in a breach. Find out how here.

Employer Breach Of Data – If you were an employee affected by a data breach, you can find out more about claiming against an employer here.

Data Breach Stress – Find out more about making a claim for data breach stress in this guide.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

Written by Jeffries

Edited by Victorine

    Contact Us

    Fill in your details below for a free callback

    Trustpilot

    Meet The Team

    • 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.

      View all posts

    Our Top Legal Guides